My United, My life.

United Strolls Against Stoke

2012-02-01T23:38:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Stoke City 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (pen 38), Berbatov (pen 53)

Team: Amos, Evans, Rio, Smalling, Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Valencia, Berbatov, Hernandez (Progba 73)

First off, I was down with a terrible viral infection the past couple of weeks and although I caught the Arsenal and Liverpool games, I was way too sick to put pen to thoughts. Thankfully the viral infection is not season damaging, unlike Fletcher's, but it's still taking a huge dose of energy just to stay concentrated for 2 hrs to catch the game last night.

The good thing was that United made it easy to watch, or rather Stoke made it so one sided that it was easy to watch. Whatever Tony Pulis was thinking, it certainly wasn't working. We were given time and space throughout the game to cut, curve and slice the defence apart. There was very little harrying and Stoke's counter-attacking game was practically non-existant. It really should've been a walk in the park.

Yet, strangely enough, the statistics showed that it wasn't. We only managed a miserly two shots on goal, and both resulted in goals. Both shots came from the two penalties awarded in our favour. It should have been three but Mike Jones refused to blow the whistle on the third when Evra was fouled. The two penalties decided the game.

Scholes returning to midfield, seems to have temporarily solved the creative problems in midfield. His industry and flair was the foundation stone that allowed us to build on our attacks. Coupled with Carrick fine form, they have formed a formidable duo in the centre of the park. Progba was given a 20 minute cameo after replacing Hernandez, and did incredibly well. In fact his injection of youth and enthusiasm showed so much promise, I'm secretly wishing Fergie would give him more play time. While I thnk he's underperformed in the reserves, he's looks like he fits in with the first-teamers.

And while I was oohing and aahing over Progba, Everton did the unlikely in beating Shitty. Gibson who was sold earlier in the transfer window to Everton did the damage. And just like that, we're level on points with Shitty again.

Our next few fixtures will indicate just how far we can push Shitty. Games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs will determine if we can end the season with the title.

Ginger Prince Returns

2012-01-15T01:09:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Bolton 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Scholes (45), Welbeck (74), Carrick (83)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Giggs 70), Valencia, Nani (Park 70), Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez 78)

For larges parts of the first half, it looked like it wasn't going to be our day. We missed a ridiculous number of great chances, the best falling to a Rooney penalty which was superbly saved.

We controlled and reigned supreme, but were just unable to take a first half lead, until Scholes decided to announce his return to Old Trafford with a fine goal deep into added on time. His goal sent the roof down and reminded what we've been missing in midfield this season. The only cautionary was that his tackling is still as wayward as ever, and was lucky early in the game to escape with a few stern words.

We pull the foot off the pedal in the second half significantly and played a dangerous game with Bolton. The passing was not as crisp as the first, and could have been punished badly for our complacency, before Welbeck secured the win with a well taken goal at the expense of picking up an injury.

Carrick added a third moments later to add glitter to the scoreline.

This game was what the doctor ordered, after losing our last two in the league and scrapping into the 4th round of the FA Cup. It was a good first half, but the second left alot to be desired. There is still plenty of work to be done if we are serious in defending the title. Our next two fixtures are against Arsenal at the Emirates and at Anfield in the FA Cup, two games that will give us a better clue on how well our team can cope in the months to come.

United Scrambles Past Shitty

2012-01-09T11:08:00.002+08:00

Manchester City 2 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Manchester City: Kolarov (48), Aguero (65)
Manchester United: Rooney (10, 40), Welbeck (30)

Red Card
Manchester City: Kompany (12)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Smalling, Jones, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani (Scholes 59), Rooney, Welbeck (Anderson 59)

Am suffering from a terrible hangover from the game celebrations so will try to make this one really short.

Still reeling from the shock that we beat Shitty at the Etihad. The scoreline doesn't tell the story of the game. In part we were gifted the game, in part was pretty impressed with Shitty spirit. Oh and I forgot to mention that Scholes came out of retirement and played a bit part role as well.

It was a bit of a crazy opening to the game. Shitty were threatening right from the start and Lindegaard's shaky touch was nearly pounced on by Aguero. However it was Rooney who opened the scoring with a wonderfully taken header that he probably knew little about. It was against the run of play but he wheeled away in celebration clutching the United emblem on his chest and kissing the badge to reinforce his commitment to the team after a week of speculation of his departure.

Shitty's woes were compounded almost instantly when Kompany was sent off for a double legged challenge on Nani. It was a terrible decision, and this is coming from a United fan. Kompany took the ball and the challenge, though double legged, was in no way putting Nani's health in danger. I suppose the referee had to play it to the letter of the law, but a bit of common sense was needed here. What made that decision really a bad one was that moments later, I recall Evra making a similar challenge that didn't even win the ball and he didn't even get a ticking off. It was simply put, a terrible decision on hindsight. Of course as a United fan, we take what we can get during this lean times.

We went on to hammer two more goals before the break. Welbeck finished superbly on the half hour when Shitty failed to clear their lines, and Rooney was first to react to his own penalty save to give us a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the break.

We were sitting pretty and looked really like avenging the 6-1 derby demolition handed to us back in October. And it really should have been against a Shitty side that looked shell-shocked with only 10 men.

Whaever they serve at the Etihad worked well for Mancini. Instead of sitting back and preventing a rugby score, Shitty came out firing and Kolarov scored a beautiful freekick to pull one back for the skyblues. In reponse, we brought on Scholes and the first contribution of the Ginger Prince was to have a throw-in nicked off by Milner. Milner's cross cum pass was expertedly taken by Aguero but was parryed by Lindegaard and the little Argentine pounced on the loose ball to bring Shitty within striking distance.

We did have our chances, but Shitty were terrifying on the break. The gameplan by Fergie by then was to hold on the possession of the football and make the 10-men work really hard for it. Having played almost 80 minutes against 11, fatigue showed, but it wasn't without a scramble by United in the final minutes to clear the ball from their penalty area.

The referee finally blew the whistle to signal the end of the game and I breathed a sigh of relief. If we struggled so hard to contain a Shitty team playing with 10 for 80 minutes, I dread to think of the league rematch in April. We really should have put Shitty to the sword, but in the end struggled to keep them at bay, only to cross the finishing line by the skin of our teeth.

On one hand, I'm thrilled to beat the Cup holders and avenge last season's ousting, yet on the other hand, very disappointed at the mental mistakes that cost us the goals. It's fortunate we escaped today.

And for all our troubles, we get Liverpool in the next game. Some reward!

Back To Back Defeats

2012-01-05T06:04:00.001+08:00

Newcastle 3 - Manchester United 0
Scorers
Newcastle: Ba (33), Cabaye (47), Jones (og 90)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Jones, Valencia, Evra, Giggs, Carrick, Park (Hernandez 68), Nani, Rooney (Anderson 75), Babertov (Welbeck 57)

I'm speechless at how we performed today. To put it bluntly, we were never at the races today...not even close.

You would think after the shambolic result on Saturday, the lads would have come out firing on all cylinders, instead they did show plenty of angst but directed at all the wrong areas. Instead of focusing on getting the result, they were more intent on trying to rile the Magpies.

All credit to the Newcastle players, they kept their focus and were ridiculously unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Rio clumsily took Ba out when the scores were level. It was partly karma playing it's part as in the first leg at Old Trafford when a penalty was wrongfully awarded then. Most of the decisions were falling our way, but as mentioned, we were never in the game. Newcastle, on the other hand, were at their brilliant best, concentrating on what mattered most, the result.

And their hardwork, and positive attitude resulted in a superb Ba goal in the 33th minute. As much as I've hated Newcastle in the past, this season's recarnation of the team is an exciting one, and one that's easy to get behind. This is not Keegan's Newcastle, nor the hateful one that had that moron Barton in it either. This version boosts very likable characters like Ba, Tiote and Cabaye, not to mention a couple of ex-Uniyed players in Simpson and Obertan. Of course we must not forget the two Argentines, Coloccini and Gutierrez, both of whom took a step back in their careers to play for the Magpies when they were relegated a couple of seasons back. Definitely a very likable group, playing a brand of football that is eye-catching.

Cabaye sent the tyneside faithful into raptures at the start of the second half with a beautifully executed freekick and the game was beyond us. We did try to make a game of it, but Simpson's off the line clearance midway into the second spelt the only and last time we ever threatened Krul.

To round off our misery, Jone's sent the ball the wrong way of Lindegaard in the dying minutes which probably summed up our night in the cold and clammy SportsDirect.com stadium.

To think all the celebrations when Sunderland beat Shitty on Sunday went to waste.

I dread to think how the hell we're even going to trouble Shitty this coming Sunday in the FA Cup. They must be licking their chops at the prospect of meeting us at our most vulnerable. It may well be a good thing to exit the cup early and concentrate on the league given our injuries, if we can overcome them.

Hope You Enjoyed Your Birthday, Fergie

2012-01-01T03:38:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Blackburn 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (52, 62)
Blackburn: Yakubu (pen 16, 51), Hanley (80)

Team: De Gea, Jones, Carrick, Valencia, Evra, Rafael (Keane 86), Park, Nani, Welbeck, Berbatov, Hernandez (Anderson 46)

Am glad I missed this one, if not I'd be fuming. I'll probably still find a way to download the game and watch it at my own time.

From all acounts I've read and from the numerous smses to Kentona and friends (dread to check my phone bill for the month), it seemed like we were our own worst enemies. Ferguson seemed to gatecrash his own birthday party by lining up a weird formation and opted to rest our best players. He seemed so cocksure that neither Giggs nor Rooney were allowed on the bench. It effectively left Will Keane to come on for Rafael on the 86th minute to make a rescue that would never come.

Sigh....this come just when we looked to be turning the screws on Shitty with a nice run of results and a fixture list that looks rather favourable. Should've known it would last with our ever busy treatment table. No doubts about it, Fergie laid a bomb on us with this one. I'd like to see him wiggle out of this one.

I'm just glad I missed this one.

Berbatov Christmas Reminder

2011-12-27T01:13:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 5 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Park (8), Berbatov (41, 58, pen 78), Valencia (75)

Red Card
Wigan: Sammon (40)

Team: Lindegaard, Evans (Fryers 46), Carrick, Valencia, Evra, Gibson, Giggs (Macheda 64), Park, Nani (Rooney 64), Berbatov, Hernandez

Berbatov must be enjoying his holidays. After scoring the fifth goal against Fulham, he was rewarded with a rare start for last season's top scorer and he reminded everyone why and how he acquired that accolade with a hattrick.

As much as his goal grabbing prowess go, it has also been a microism of his career at Old Trafford: he hardly scores when it matters. By the time he grabbed his first goal in the 41st minute, Wigan were one down to a Park goal and a man down. We were already cruising and the result was never in doubt once Phil Dowd brandished the red card to Conor Sammon. The card was harsh and it rather killed and chances of a Wigan revival.

The second half was mostly a one-sided affair as we continued to pound the Wigan goal as Berbatov grabbed his hattrick and Valencia added another to finish off with a handsome 5-0 scoreline. Carrick was marvelous as a make-shift centreback and we finished the game playing with 4 strikers and only 2 recognised defenders in Evra and Fryers. Yup, there was some weird shit going on at Old Trafford.

As great as the result was, the bigger and more significant news came from The Hawthorns where WBA hosted the table toppers, Shitty. WBA held the bad guys goalless and all of a sudden we're level on points, sharing the summit as the year turns. Bloody hell, if we get anything against Blackburn this weekend, we'd be looking to bloody top the table into 2012! And we'd be doing it with a gimpy looking backline! To think a few weeks back, we were 8 points behind and Shitty were playing like they were going to run far away with it and not look back.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm actually somewhere between a state of shock and one step into the twilight zone right now. If the world does indeed end in 2012, I'm proud to say I've lived!

United Thumps Fulham At Bogey Ground

2011-12-22T06:26:00.002+08:00

Fulham 0 - Manchester United 5
Scorers
Manchester United: Welbeck (4), Nani (28), Giggs (43), Rooney (88), Berbatov (90)

Team: Lindegaard, Evans, Smalling, Jones (Young 28 (Park 59)), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Rooney, Welbeck (Berbatov 76)

What an emphatic win! And a perfect Christmas present to United fans all around the world.

I have to admit I had my doubts coming into this game. We've never played well at Craven Cottage, and playing back to back games in London seems like a daunting task, but we passed the test with flying colours, albeit at a cost.

Phil Jones suffered a concussion in the 1st minute of the game and while he struggled to soldier on, a concussion is not something you take a risk with. I was glad he signalled to the bench to be taken off in the 28th minute. He's replacement, Young, didn't fare any better either. Ashley injure his ankle 15 minutes into the second half and he, too, had to be replaced. Our injury situation seems quite dire, especially in defense. Rio seemingly picked up a knock somewhere between Sunday and today and was deemed unfit for today's game.

As a result of Rio, absence, Jones was drafted back into right-back and Smalling went inwards to partner Evans. There were alot of position shifting when Jones was replaced by Young early on in the game. Valencia came back into the fullback position while Nani and Young plied the wings.

Anyway, as confusing as it sounds, Nani and Valencia both had outstanding games on the right and most of their play involved Giggs and Welbeck playing little triangles around the Fulham defense, creating havoc and goals.

As with the game against QPR, we scored early when Nani took on his defender on the left and placed a perfect ball for Welbeck with an easy finish. Nani himself got on the scoresheet with an unlikely glancing header from Giggs. He returned the complement when he supplied Giggs with United's third goal.

We were all over Fulham and I don't think the Cottagers had a sniff at goal in the first half.

We took the foot off the pedal in the second half and Fulham were allowed more freedom. They came close on a couple of occasions but the defense stood tall. On the rare occasions when they breeched the twin towers in Evans and Smalling, Lindegaard was there to thwart their best efforts. It's gratifying to see that we have really two outstanding keepers in De Gea and Lindegaard, and more gratifying to see Ferguson appreciate them enough to consistantly give both a good run in the team.

The game was looking like it was going to fizzle out in the dying minutes until Rooney took matters into his own hands and scored a screamer out of nothing. Surely it must be a contender for goal of the month.

Not to be outdone, Berbatov added United's fifth with a cheeky improvised backheel to put the gloss on our win.

We've played some incredibly beautiful football today and were duely rewarded with an equally beautiful scoreline. More importantly, we've kept pace with the team at the top...and we've not lost away from home, which was our Achille's heel last season.

However with the injuries piling up during this festive season where the games come at an unrelenting pace, it could very well be our Achille's heel this season. I'm just thankful that the teams we're facing in the next few games have problems of their own.

And before I sign off, Merry Christmas to everyone out there.

Rooney And Carrick Take United To The Top......For Now

2011-12-18T22:04:00.000+08:00

QPR 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (1), Carrick (56)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Carrick, Jones, Valencia, Nani (Young 88), Welbeck (Hernandez 63), Rooney (Giggs 79)

Superb performance.

Gonna make this a short one since there's plenty of football to catch tonight. We had a storming start when Rooney connected with Valencia's cross early in the game. Again the same story that we should have had more. Jones and Evans had loads of chances throughout the game but were unlucky to only find the woodwork.

Nani and Valencia were excellent down the wings and Jones is simply an incredible player. We're just hitting the surface of what he can do. Carrick had an excellent game as well and topped it off with an exclaimation. He intercepted a pass from Joey Barton in the second half from his own half and did a Ryan Giggs, bringing the ball all the way to the Rangers' box and scored.

The win brought us to the summit of the Premiership until Shitty plays Arsenal later in the evening.

Wolves Face United Backlash

2011-12-11T01:01:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 4 - Wolves 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Nani (17, 56), Rooney (27, 62)
Wolves: Fletcher (47)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra (Fryers 67), Jones, Carrick, Valencia, Nani (Young 77), Rooney, Welbeck (Macheda 74)

Was expecting this to be a tough game. Wolves has always given us trouble, especially when they come to park the bus. This season is a little different though, from the few games I've weatched Wolves, they have been adventurous and brave going forward. Today they played Fletcher and Doyle upfront, and instead of doing what most teams do when they came to Old Trafford, Wolves were probably foolishly trying to take the game to us.

Of course I'm not complaining. The opening exchanges were pretty even, but as the game progressed, it was apparent that they were leaving too much space for us to exploit in midfield. Jones and Carrick had relatively easy games and were able to dictate the pace. It was just a matter of time before we opened the scoring with the chances were were creating.

And true enough, Nani found himself with an opening and scored after jinking a couple of defenders before firing low. Rooney added a second in the first half. Wolves were facing a determined United team who had to endure a week of ridicule after being dumped from Europe's premier competition.

The opening of the second half didn't start in the way of the first. United's defenders were caught napping and Matt Javis found time and room to float in a cross which Fletcher headed into the net.

There were fears that we might not hold our nerve in the face of adversity again, but those notions were dispelled 10 minutes later when Nani added his second after good work from Valencia. Rooney made sure of the result with United's fourth and his second. There probably could have been more, alot more but we were unable to add to the tally.

This was possibly one of our better performances in the recent couple of months and exactly what the doctor ordered after our midweek exit. The difference today was that Wolves allowed us too much time and space in midfield, and most importantly, we were able to take our chances.

Our next 6-7 games are really 'must wins'. We'd be facing mostly mid to lower table teams and must make the most of it to push for the title. It will be the clearest indication if we're championship material.

Europa League....Here We Come!

2011-12-08T05:39:00.001+08:00

Basel 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Basel: Streller (9), A.Frei (83)
Manchester United: Jones (89)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Vidic (Evans 44), Smalling, Evra, Jones, Park (Macheda 82), Giggs, Young (Welbeck 64), Nani, Rooney

This game had the feeling of deja vu all over it. It felt exactly like the game against Newcastle a week back. We were all over Basel but were sucker punched twice. In truth, we were our own worst enemies yet again. Rooney couldn't buy a goal and our defense couldn't keep one out.

We dominated the game and had chances galore but were put on the backfoot with a piss poor De Gea clearance that allowed Streller to volley home from the edge of the box. De Gea's had a brilliant season thus far, but he's had a terrible game tonight. All game he was nervy and his distribution was poor to say the least. It was so bad that towards the end of the half, Jones was ranting at him to pull up his socks.

If the result wasn't bad enough, we had to suffer the ignominy of losing Vidic in what looked like another serious knee injury. He was stretched off and replaced by Evans late in the half. The season's going down the shit house.

We continued to pepper the Basel goal with chances but with one true poacher upfront, we rarely looked like making the breakthru, whereas Basel looked really good whenever they had the opportunity to break. Even after throwing Welbeck and Macheda on, we continued to struggle.

It was eventually Basel who added to their lead with the old, wily veteran Alexander Frei's header. He eluded Smalling, crept to the backpost and headed in a cross. We answered with Jones' header in dramatic circumstances but it was too little too late.

We need help, and we need it in the worst way possible. We've been sleepwalking again this season and unless Shitty goes thru the kind of meltdown Chelsea did last season, the chances of retaining the Premiership title is slim to none. Adding to that, Shitty crashed out of the Champions League as well, which probably means they would be concentrating their entire resources to pipping us to the title.

Not wanting to end this on a sour note, at least we can continue blooding our youngsters in the Europa League since we've crashed out of the Mickey Mouse Cup. So it's not all bad eh?

United Keeps Pace With The Leaders

2011-12-04T03:32:00.001+08:00

Aston Villa 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Jones (20)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio (Giggs 64), Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Jones, Carrick, Young (Welbeck 79), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Valencia 12)

Strange game this. We dominated most of the possession and really kept Villa out of the game the entire time, yet despite our fine play, we hardly created any chances. For all our labours the past few weeks, or months indeed, we really came out and played some fine football and really should have hammered Villa, but we faltered at the end of almost every move.

We're desperately in need of some spark up front, or even some form of luck. The good thing is that our shyness in front of goal did not hurt us today. Villa are as incompetent as they come.

Besides the inability to score tonight, the other concern was the injury to Hernandez early in the game. He seemed to have hurt his ankle and the agony in his frantic waves for assistence probably doesn't bold well. With Owen already out, Berbatov injured in the last game, it seems our striking options are down to Rooney and Welbeck (Macheda and Diouf are just too raw). For a good bit, Nani was drafted upfront and did a credible job, he's too mercurial to be relied on fulltime in that position.

Jones was plied in midfield early on and he scored his first official United goal with a darting run into the box to connect with Nani's wonderful cross. He's partnership with Carrick was solid without giving up possession. It seems Ferguson is right in his assessment that Carrick seems to come alive at the end of the year. He's certainly put in a good shift. While not being spectacular, he's putting in a credible job while Cleverley and Anderson are on the injury table (who says I don't give Carrick any credit?).

This win allowed us to retain the 2nd spot, keeping pace with City, as Spurs and Chelsea look ominously on. Our next few Premiership fixtures look easy on paper, and we better take advantage of it to narrow the gap.

United's Carling Cup Adventure Ends

2011-12-01T06:21:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Crystal Palace 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Macheda (pen 69)
Crystal Palace: Ambrose (65), Murray (98)

Team: Amos, Smalling, Evans, Rafael (Progba 64), Fabio (Fryers 37), Gibson, Park, Valencia, Diouf, Berbatov (Morrison 46), Macheda

We never really got into the game and Palace deserved the victory. A little more disconcerting for me were the injuries to the twins Fabio and Rafael. They never seem to get a break and were both replaced.

All in all, the youngsters didn't convince at all. There was too much glory hunting today. Everyone seemed to want to get their names on the scoresheet. There wasn't enough movement off the ball, and the attacks were very one dimensional, right down the middle of the park, making it extremely easy to defend. None of the reserve team players stood out.

Instead it was the Palace youngster, Zaha, who looked like a real winner. He's first half performance was really one to behold. He twisted and turned Fabio, and when Fabio was being replaced, I almost detected form rising from the mouth. He couldn't keep up the same level in the second half but it was enough to leave a deep deep impression from the 19yr old.

On our side, possibly the only player who was really outstanding was Smalling. He had a wildly impressive game, but was let down by his teammates on the other end. Macheda probably had the worst game I've seen since he's entered the scene against Villa a couple of years back, despite winning and scoring the second half penalty. I'm beginning to feel that he just might not make the cut on the big stage. Poor first touch, a seemingly bad attitude on the pitch and way too selfish. Then again, based on what Berbatov did today, the same can be said of him too.

Well, most of the players on show today probably wouldn't see action again this season with the first team unless something drastic happens. It really doesn't bold well for the team on the whole, especially in midfield where we so sorely need reinforcements. Still, heartiest congratulations to Palace and hopefully they go on to make more noisy in the competition.

Robbed By Mike Jones (Fuck You!)

2011-11-27T00:54:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Newcastle 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (49)
Newcastle: Ba (pen 64)

Red Card
Newcastle: Gutierrez (79)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Vidic, Fabio (Smalling 90), Evra (Macheda 88), Carrick, Giggs, Young, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez

I can't believe what I saw. Seriously, WTF!?! This has to be one of the worst piece of refereeings I've seen. Fuck you Mike Jones, seriously FUCK YOU!

I had intended to write some really complimentary things about Newcastle in this post, but that went flying out the window the moment Mike Jone (motherfucker!) gave the penalty to Newcastle while we were leading 1-0.

Rio had cleanly taken the ball of Ben Arfa with a beautiful challenge but instead of a corner, Mike Jones (motherfucker!) decided to make a name for himself and awarded the penalty to Newcastle.

The Barcode's goal led a charmed life after that with their back four making some incredible blocks and Tim Krul playing out of his skin. He was able to somehow put a body part between the ball and the goal line. And when he was beaten, his back four was in the way.

This was a disappointing draw as we were unable to beat the ten-men Magpies and unable to overcome a ridiculously rancid refereeing decision which will have real repercussions to the title race. Seriously....fuck you Mike Jones!

United To Sweat It Out In Switzerland

2011-11-23T05:37:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Benfica 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (30), Fletcher (60)
Benfica: Jones (og 3), Aimar (61)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Jones, Fabio (Smalling 82), Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Valencia (Hernandez 80), Nani, Young, Berbatov

This is not a good result. A win would have qualified us but the draw leaves us with all to fight for against a feisty Basel team who won today. Even with a victory in Switzerland, we would have to hope that Benfica doesn't wallop the Romanians for a better goal difference. Damn, even if the goal difference somwhow ends up the same, we would qualify as 2nd in the group with a worse off head-to-head after today's result.

It's all not looking very rosy all of a sudden. In two week's time we'd know our fate. A loss would crash us into the Europa league, while a victory doesn't guarantee us avoiding the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next stage of the competition. With Chelsea and Arsenal likely to qualify as winners of their respective groups, the odds look stacked against us. I suppose first thing's first, let's just get cross the hurdle in Switzerland.

The game itself started off in disasterous fashion and I'm glad I missed it. Jones opened his scoring account for United, unfortunately it was at the wrong end. It wasn't the start we wanted.

The first half was frustrating to watch as a football fan. Benfica is possibly one of the dirtiest teams in Europe out there right now. Every little touch from a red jersey resulted in a Benfica player rolling on the ground, while the presence of the medical team springs them back to life the next moment. To add to that, they are the masters of the cynical fouls whenever we looked to gain the upper hand. They weren't making bad or hard fouls, but doing just enough with subtle bodychecks and ankle taps to bring a United player down. As a result the game never got flowing for either team. We had to rely on Valencia, Young and Nani to dribble the ball to get into scoring positions.

Despite the negative play, we did manage to get an equalizer when Nani's cross found Berbatov in the box and he gleefully glanced it past the keeper.

The second half was a complete opposite from the first. United came out firing on all cylinders. We were playing at a ridiculously high level and were giving the Benfica defense fits, literally. Carrick probably had one of the best games he's had in eons. He controlled the tempo and was spraying passes left and right, finding his teammates and putting them in position to cause real damage. This was the Carrick we were hoping for when we prised him from Spurs.

The goal eventually came from Fletcher. He barely stayed onside to deliver Evra's cross for the goal. It was what we deserved from the outstanding play. However the joy was shortlived. Barely a minute after the celebrations died down, Benfica caught us napping, or should I say, caught Fabio and Rio napping, and it resulted in Aimar aka Frodo scoring.

We piled on the pressure but never really produced that level of play in that opening 15 minutes of the half. Still it looked likely that we would come away from this fixture with a much needed win. But try as we may, the Benfica defense stood firm.

They are now in pole position despite the fact that we still top the table. I'm pretty sure that would change unless we somehow ship a boatload in Switzerland.

Chicharito Does It Again

2011-11-20T03:30:00.001+08:00

Swansea City 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Hernandez (10)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Vidic, Evra (Fabio 51), Jones, Carrick, Giggs (Fletcher 76), Park, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Valencia 84)

It was another uninspiring game, but we managed to squeeze out our third consecutive 1-0 victory in as many league games. We've tightened up considerably since the derby day destruction.

The results are welcomed but the product on the pitch is pretty blend. We got an early lead thanks to some really horrid passing from The Swans and Giggs capitalized to put Hernandez thru for a simple goal. From then on, we stopped trying to get the second.

We spent a huge portion of the game allowing Swansea time and space to come at us. We were content to spend our efforts and energy defending the lead. As dull as the game was, I have to admit we did a credibly good job at that, barring the open goal that Sinclair missed in the 22nd minute.

We were so dugged in that we didn't even push men forward on the counter. There were at least 2 occasions where Nani was left out, hung to dry when he brought the ball forward. Both times he held on the to ball and had to wait a good 5 seconds before anyone plodded forward to create an outlet for him to pass. As we all know, 5 seconds in football is an eternity and by the time Giggs or Carrick moved, Nani had already lost the ball. We were so entrenched in defending that we didn't even want to get the cushion of a second goal.

It was quite painful to watch, and that's just how we've been playing since 6-1 happened to us. The adventure seems to have gone, and we're just dragging towards the January transfer window, hoping it would open for a new wind to rejuvenate a broken spirit. And it can't come soon enough.

Brown Wins It For United

2011-11-06T01:21:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Sunderland 0
Scorer
Manchester United (Brown og 45)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Vidic, Jones, Evra, Fletcher, Park (Carrick 83), Rooney, Nani, Welbeck (Berbatov 73), Hernandez

For those of you wondering, I did miss posting the Champions League game. Daylights saving kinda screwed my schedule. I set my alarm at 0230hrs only to realise the time was set an hour back. So I set up the computer to catch the game and fell asleep while waiting for it. I did catch glimpses here and there but to be frank it was a rather dull game and I slipped in and out of sleep.

And speaking of dull games, the first half of this one isn't any better. Sunderland is really a very very poor team this season.They couldn't string two passes together if their lives depended on it. The only reason why they are hanging around somewhere in mid-table is because they haven't met anyone good yet.

As poor as Sunderland were, we didn't do ourselves any favours. We had alot of possession but didn't know how to break the black cats. There was way too much individual play. Everyone was doing his own thing and trying hard to make it a weekend to celebrate for Ferguson's 25th year in charge.

In the end, it was an ex-United player who made the difference. Wes Brown converted Nani's corner into his own net deep into injury time in the first half to remind us what we were missing. If Ferguson was in a sharing mood, he would have invited Brown to the manager's red wine session after the game, afterall he deserved it.

As unwatchable as the first half was, the second half was a complete turn around. The lads started to play for one another instead of doing it all by themselves. Rooney started to come to life in his new midfield role and was in a take-charge mood, pulling the strings. Park was everywhere on the pitch and Fletcher cleaned up nicely in front of the back four.

As a result, the back four had a ridiculously easy time until the last 15 minutes when desperation creeped into Sunderland's game and they started to be more adventurous. They were nearly offered a lifeline when the referee pointed to the spot but after consultation with the linesman, it was ruled a handball by Sunderland's Korean striker.

Bendtner also missed an open goal with time running out, while their keeper made two outstanding saves to keep the Black Cats in the game.

Overall it was a good result, although the performance left alot to be desired, especially in the first half. At least Ferguson got his win on his 25th year. We probably wouldn't see another 25, but the last 25 have been a dream come true for us United fans, especially those of us who rememeber the dark times.

United Tightens Up And Bores The Toffees To Death

2011-10-30T04:44:00.002+08:00

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

2011-10-26T05:08:00.001+08:00

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

2011-10-24T01:46:00.001+08:00

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

2011-10-19T05:11:00.001+08:00

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!

2011-10-16T00:37:00.000+08:00

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

2011-10-02T00:15:00.001+08:00

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.

Young Saves United Blushes

2011-09-28T05:04:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Basel 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Welbeck (16,17), Young (90)
Basel: F. Frei (58), A. Frei (60, pen 76)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Jones, Fabio (Nani 70), Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Berbatov 82), Giggs (Park 61), Valencia, Young, Welbeck

What a game. As a football fan, this was an absolute beauty to watch, however, I'm a United fan as well, and it's seriously been a bloody rollercoaster ride. I can't even decide right now if I should be happy with the result, whether we dodged a bullet or missed the heart.

All credit to Basel for making this a fantastic game. They played without fear, creeping into the lion's den and walking tall from it with a prized tooth.

We, on the other hand, have been just pathetic behind. Ever since the Chelsea game, our injury hit backline has been allowing opponents too many chances and it's come back to bite us in the last couple of games.

The game started off exactly that way. Basel came close on a couple of occasions but it seemed that they had left their scoring boots back in Switzerland. We took full advantage of their misses and fired two good goals from Danny Welbeck. Despite going two down, Basel continued to create chances after chances but were not able to trouble De Gea in any shape, way or form. It looked pretty going into the half. All we needed to do was to keep the backline strong and the points would have been in the bag.

Again I'm just going to say, all credit to Basel. They just came at us in the second half and were duely rewarded with two quick-fire goals of their own. We were the architects of our own demise. We kept giving the ball away cheaply and our back four looked terribly hesitant. The support from midfield went the way of the dinosaurs.

Then in the 76th minute, we once more fell victim to some terrible defending and gave away a penalty. Alexander Frei added his second and Basel's third, and we were staring at a shock humiliation...at Old Trafford!

We poured forward in numbers and in typical United-style, scored in the 90th minute to level the scores. Despite a generous amount of injury time, we were unable to conjure a winner, but then again, that would have been terribly cruel to Basel's valiant effort. Even then, Berbatov could have produced something but he saw glory and hit his shot into the side-netting when Nani was in a better position for a tap-in.

This was a superb game to watch, non-stop attacking from both sides. We need to really tighten our defence in the worst way possible. It's shambolic and we're putting alot of pressure from our front men to keep up. As brilliant as Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck have been, they are only human.

Lucky To Come Away With A Draw

2011-09-25T03:12:00.001+08:00

Stoke City 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Stoke City: Crouch (52)
Manchester United: Nani (27)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Jones, Valencia, Evra, Fletcher, Anderson, Nani, Young (Giggs 70), Berbatov (Welbeck 70), Hernandez (Owen 10)

As mentioned in the last post, this is the hump that we needed to get over. On paper it looked like a disappointing result, especially after we got into the lead via a magical moment from Nani. However in reality, it really wasn't close. We were hammered and battered and if not for the heroics of De Gea, we really should have lost this one.

Right from the kickoff, Stoke signalled their intent to play a physical game and lenient refereeing allowed to get away with absolute murder in the opening 10 minutes. There were a number of cringe-worthy tackles by the Stoke players on ours which resulted in Hernandez being replaced by Owen in the opening 10 minutes. It was downright dirty and disgusting.

Having rubbed it in our face with their physical presence, they went on to dominate midfield and created a good number of chances. Without Rooney on the pitch, our build ups were laboured. Berbatov took too much time on the ball and most of our attacks resulted in having to punt a hopeful ball amongst the trees for Owen to gather.

Good thing we still had Nani to rely on. He's come along way from the awkward player he was 4 years back. Now he's full of confidence in his own ability and it was that self-belief that brought us the lead quite against the run of play. He sliced and diced past the entire Stoke defence and unleashed a screamer.

Stoke almost replied immediately but De Gea's reflexes saved us, pushing Wilkinson's shot to the post. He then went on the foil Walters shot.

It seemed like we would keep a clean sheet, but right after the break, slack marking allowed Crouch to head home the equalizer. The game then went thru a period where neither side wanted to defend, but neither side were able to make the breakthru either.

In the dying minutes, Stoke were happy to share the spoils as we went forward to make an attempt to grab it all. Our efforts were not enough on the night and gave up our 100% record.

Overall it was still a good result considering how poorly we played for most of the game. There was a lack of simple, quick and incisive passing that allowed us to win the past 5 games. While I don't really want to put it on Berbatov's or Fletcher's shoulders, they were indeed very slow to release the ball. They just held on to it for a tad too long, and all the attacking impetus was lost. It became very apparent once Berbatov left the pitch, the last 20 minutes saw us passing and ball faster and making inroads into the last third. Too bad after playing 70 minutes of slow, laboured football, there just wasn't enough time to rev up the engine.

A win here would have done our confidence a world of good, considering the next 3 premiership fixtures of Norwich away and Liverpool and Shitty at home. We could just steamroll them, but with a draw here, a lingering doubt might creep into the minds of our young players.

Well, I suppose the silver lining here is that we're still top of the table, albeit by a narrow goal difference.

United Shrugs Off Leeds

2011-09-21T05:15:00.001+08:00

Leeds 0 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Owen (15, 31), Giggs (45)

Team: Amos, Carrick, Fryers, Fabio, Valencia, Park, Giggs (Progba 46), Diouf (Welbeck 70), Macheda (Cole 77), Berbatov, Owen

No really much to say here. This used to be a huge fixture; the battle of the roses, Yorkshire vs Lancashire, but not anymore. There was a time when Alex Ferguson used to field his best and his toughest at Ellen Road, but those days are gone. It may return someday, but unlikely in the near future. The gulf in standards is as wide as the scoreline suggests and on top of that, we fielded an experimental team with the reserves. Just to emphasize the difference, we ended the game with a centreback pairing of Carrick and Berbatov!

A number of players were fielded in positions that were unfamilar to them, but all had acquitted themselves well. Macheda and Diouf were employed at the left and right flanks respectively. While they didn't make significant contributions upfront, they were both hardworking and came back often to help the their respective fullbacks.

Valencia continues from his weekend advantures at right back and seems to be growing into the role. For his sake, I hope Ferguson doesn't get any funny ideas of playing him there full time. As it stands, we already have Rafael and to a smaller extend, both Smalling and Jones as standbys there.

Our injuries in the centre of defence and the need to rest players playing here resulted in Carrick playing along side the youngster Ezekiel Fryers. I've never seen of heard of Fryers, but they both did a masterful job. When Fryers get injured in the 77th minute, Berbatov tracked back for a cameo at that spot, and must say for the rest of the game did look the part. If the injuries continue to pile up in this department, we could see this very makeshift central pairing however unlikely.

Park and Giggs were terrific dictating play from the centre of the park. Giggs really seems to age well. His goal at the end of the half was a marvel. It probably got a deflection at the end, but the run up to it was all Giggs turning back to clock and mesmerising us with his skills. He's replacement in the second half, Progba, is still not ready for the big time or the bright lights.Too many wild passes and rash challenges. The potential is there and he needs to get first team action, be it training with the first team or out of loan to other clubs to gain alot more experience before he's the finished product.

And of course up front, Owen was Owen. Two goals to the good. Berbatov did nothing upfront and probably enjoyed his little stint behind.

Long story short, Leeds were crap and we took advantage and snuffed their light out early. The weekend's a different monster altogether. It's going to be a bruising contest against Stoke, a game I'm not relishing. I hope they can play possum like they did against Sunderland over the weekend, but it's more likely they'd be more like the tigers against Liverpool. So far I've been enjoying this season, but I somehow just have a bad feeling about this weekend....

United Comes Up Tops In A Game Of Missed Chances

2011-09-19T01:43:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Chelsea 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Smalling (8), Nani (37), Rooney (45)
Chelsea: Torres (46)

Team: Jones, Evans, Smalling (Valencia 62), Evra, Fletcher, Anderson (Carrick 62), Young, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 79)

We won our 5th consecutive game and took the top spot in the table after Shitty dropped points despite being 2-0. This wasn't a classic encounter in the attacking sense, but it definitely was an exciting one with play switching from one end of the pitch to the other in the blink of an eye. What stood out were the extrodinary number of misses from point blank range from both sets of players.

We started off poorly, continuing our poor play in midweek against Benfica. Chelsea were all over us right from kickoff and were quite unlucky to be 1-0 down by the 8th minute. Young's freekick from the right found Smalling in an offside position. The linesman didn't flag and Smalling obliged the Old Trafford crowd by nodding it into the net.

It was follwed by intense pressure from Chelsea which De Gea acquitted himself well with a couple of great saves. It gave confidence to a shaky backline and we slowly but surely built on it. Nani doubled the lead with a stunning individual goal.

Rooney added a third at the death of the first half with an easy pass into the net. We were up and comfortable with a 3 goal lead going into the half. We didn't play particularly well, but we took our chances while Chelsea fluffed their lines in front of goal.

The second half started off with a bang when Torres collected Anelka's wonderful pass and lifted it over De Gea. For a moment it looked like the Torres from Liverpool had returned. He looked lively and was really giving our defense fits. He should have added a second when he rounded De Gea with the empty net to aim at, but he returned to form and inexplicably missed the open target.

At the other end, Rooney too fluffed his line from the spot. Instead of celebrating a second goal, he slipped at the last second and sent the penalty over and wide, ala Beckham.

Berbatov also got into the act as the game was winding down. One on one with the keeper, Rooney elected to pass to Berbatov in an open position. Thepass was wretched and Berbatov could only weakly poke it into Ashley Cole.

It was a game of very badly missed chance from both sides, but we came out top despite not looking anywhere near our best. Andy Cole would have been proud of the effort put in by both sides.

Benfica, United Share Points

2011-09-15T04:55:00.000+08:00

Benfica 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Benfica: Cardozo (24)
Manchester United: Giggs (42)

Team: Lindegaad, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Fabio (Jones 78), Carrick, Fletcher (Hernandez 70), Park, Giggs, Valencia (Nani 70), Rooney

Putrid display in midfield. Ferguson gave the old timers a run here and after the free-flowing football we've witnessed in the last month grinded to to a halt. There was precious little movement in the centre of the park. Carrick and Fletcher were non-entities. They moved like their feet were cast in cement.

With 7 changes to the one that played against Bolton, we certainly looked like strangers on the pitch. Rooney was starved of any supply and he had to constantly track back to get a touch of the ball, of course when he did that, there was no one up front when he did get the ball.

The only players who ran their socks off from the starting eleven were possibly Evra and Park down the left flank. Fabio and Valencia tried to put in a good shift but the quality was poor and eventually both were taken out before the 90.

Benfica's goal came from a superb goal from Cardozo. He spun beautifully around Evans and whipped a wonderful shot across Lindegaard and into the net. Our reply was a little against the run of play. We created little in the first half and were perhaps fortunate to draw level when Giggs was allowed to dance his way thru the Benfica midfield to lash home the equalizer.

The second half performance was much better from our point of view. We begun to string a couple of passes together but it wasn't enough to take the 3 points. Benfica, too, had their chances but Lindegaard is pressing hard for the no.1 spot. He made a couple of outstanding saves to save our blushes.

The game ended all square and probably the right result despite our putrid first half. Thankfully our group looks really weak with Basel and Otelul as our next oppoents, both of which we should deal with, barring an Inter-like collapse.

With our top players rested, I'm optimistic we should deal with Chelsea's slow legs in defense this weekend.

United Steamrolls Bolton Towards No. 20

2011-09-11T02:47:00.000+08:00

Bolton 0 - Manchester United 5
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (4, 58), Rooney (20, 25, 68)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans (Smalling 61), Jones, Evra, Anderson, Cleverley (Carrick 7), Young (Giggs 61), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez

I can't remember when United started a season this emphatically. As far as my memory can take recall, the only memorable start we had was in 86 when we won the first 10 games before drawing to Luton, who incidentically are no longer in the league, which only goes to show two things....it's damn long ago and I'm getting too damn old.

Like the previous fortnight, Shitty played earlier and stamped their authority on a wimpish Wigan and like the previous fortnight, we called their result and upped the stakes again, this time against a feisty Bolton. It was a robust challenge right from the kickoff and we lost Cleverley within minutes with a dreadful tackle by Kevin Davies. While Cleverley was taken out of the game for treatment, the ten men in red responded with a wonderful goal from Chicharito. He completely outsmarted Gary Cahill to find space and poked Nani's cross into the net.

Cleverley was replaced with Carrick, whom I'm actually beginning to hate, but today is a good day, so I'll just leave the ranting for another posting, if I get down to it.

Bolton's response was very positive and in the next quarter hour or so, they were easily the better team and really looked like equalising. In previous seasons, they might have, however the Manchester United in it's current form is a different animal and I almost felt sorry for Bolton. From a lightning quick attacks, Rooney scored twice in a space of 5 minutes to put the result beyond the Trotters. Both goals were supplied by Phil Jones who was making an appearance at right-back. I thought Rafael was filled with potential until Smalling came along. With his mature level of play, I thought the right-back role was Smalling's to lose, then Ferguson did what we never expected and pushed Jones to the position with Smalling starting from the bench instead. Jones responded with a man-of-the-match performance. Rooney may have scored a hattrick, but Jones stole the show and our hearts.

Chicharito made it 4 in the second half and Rooney completed his hattrick with over 20 minutes to spare. We could very well have equalled the margin against Arsenal, but the foot was significantly off the pedal. Chicarito could have added to the scoreline but was unselfish, instead passing the ball to get teammates involved.

It was a brilliant overall performance by everyone in a red shirt, including the 17 busloads of Norwegian fans who made their way down.

United Rips Arsenal A New One

2011-08-29T04:43:00.000+08:00

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

2011-08-23T05:12:00.002+08:00

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

2011-08-15T01:22:00.001+08:00

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

2011-08-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

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.

Season Report Card 10/11

2011-06-04T08:12:00.000+08:00

I've been dragging my feet in the mud to do this, partly from the disappointment of being beaten in the Champions League finals, which I have a hard time getting over (more on that later), and partly because I really don't know how to grade this team.

In many ways, we have performed beyond my initial expectations at the beginning of the season, yet at the same time, I can't help but wonder how much of Arsenal's and Chelsea's loss of form at various points in the season helped us. Let's face it, Chelsea looked to canter away with the title at the beginning of the season until the turn of the year where they somehow couldn't win to save their skin.

Arsenal are Arsenal. As with the last few seasons, they are somehow able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Just like Benitez with Liverpool, Wenger is one stubborn son of a bitch. And we're just thankful he's one.

Couple that with our own feeble away record, it's really hard to say that we won the title, instead of them losing it. Yet we did. And to top it off, this isn't just any ordinary title. It's a special one. The one that took us over the top, the one that knocked our hated rivals off the perch.

Still the significance of the Premiership title and the sole accolade of being the 'Best in England' left a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth at the defeat...no, utter destruction at Wembley a week later. It was not only a loss for me last weekend. It was a realization that there is no way this team can ever be the top of the European class as long as Barcelona is around.

Some of their best players are young....really young. Messi is only 23, Iniesta is 27, Busquet is only 22 and Pique is only 24. These guys are the spine of the team going forward and I've not included guys like Villa, Puyol and Xavi who still have a few good years left in them. Not to mention an academy that keeps on producing gems like Pedro and Krkic. This is a team that is not only good at the present but built to continue into the next 10 or so years. We might be able to beat them once, maybe twice in that span of time, but this generation will belong to Barcelona unless something calamitous happens, like them running out of money and needing to sell Messi. That scenario seems more likely to happen to us though.

This is the realization that's kept me bitter for the past week or so. We maybe the kingpins in England, but in Europe, we're at best a second rated team. That said, I still enjoyed immensely the journey to the Champions League finals. It's the destination that was best forgotten.

I suppose with that rant off my chest, it's time to get down to business to rank the team.

Edwin Van der Sar (A+)
Wish he could stay another year. By far the best that we've had since Smikes. He kept us in a number of away fixtures and a real pity he couldn't end his career on a high. He'll just have to make do with being part of a team that kicked Liverpool off the perch. Wish him all the best in life.

Tomasz Kuszczak (C)I suppose he's on his way out too. I haven't been harsh on him the last couple of seasons and thought he was never given a fair chance. However, this once again proves that Ferguson knows so much more than me. Kuszczak was given ample chances to stake his claim as Van der Sar's successor, but he kept on fluffing his lines. I still think he's a good keeper, unfortunately Old Trafford is simply not his stage. It was almost painful to watch him at times. Wish you the best at your next club, hopefully the fans over there would be kinder to you.

Nemanja Vidic (A+)
Don't fuck around with our Serbian Terminator. There is a reason why he won the Barclay's Player of the Season award. He's simply the best at his position, not to mention the most consistant. I've used this term on him in previous report cards and I'll use it again today: Solid as a rock. And he made Captain this season.

Rio Ferdinand (A)
Didn't get to play as much as he would have liked as injuries ravaged a good portion of the season. However when he's played, he's been quite excellent. The only reason he's not getting an A+ from me is that he just can't keep his bloody mouth shut. He simply loves the attention and has to have his two cents worth to the media everytime anything controversial comes up. And he nearly gets a B for thinking of himself as a United legend. Still long way to go Rio, still a long long way to go before you can even be elevated to that level. There is a 12 step program to reach there, beginning with the first step of admitting that you're a dick and an attention whore....

Chris Smalling (A+)
Holy moly Batman! In a season that hasn't been too impressive, he stood out like a shining becon of light. He's been amazing, absolutely amazing. Hardly put a foot wrong whenever he came on the pitch. I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I really do think he's our new Vidic/Stam. Not to mention he's looked great from set pieces upfront too. However before you get as excited as me, I used to say the same about a certain Johhny Evans...

Johnny Evans (B)
This came close to a C, but that would have been slightly unfair to him. Let's just say this has been one season to forget for Johnny.

Patrice Evra (C)
Evra's probably been our worst defender this entire season. I don't know what's wrong with him. Maybe the fallout from the World Cup over last summer has finally gotten to him. He doesn't defend, he doesn't go forward, in short he pretty much sucked this entire season.

Rafael (B)
Plenty of potential from the lad. However he's very reckless trying to make the telling tackle instead of sheparding his attacker into less dangerous positions. Suffered a pretty bad injury somewhere in the season and lost he's place at right-back to his twin Fabio.

Fabio (B)
Despite the poor season Evra has, he's been unable to dislodge the French pisser. Instead got his chance at right-back. Frankly, I can't tell the brothers apart, but for the one distinct difference that Fabio seems like the calmer player in defending. He doesn't rush things as much as Rafael. Didn't set the stage alight, but didn't do badly either.

John O'Shea (A)
Left, right centre, he's played them all, and played them reasonably well. Once again O'Shea was called upon when the early season injuries plagued the team. There were even a couple of games where he stole the show at right-back. Sadly for him, he wasn't prominantly featured at the later stages of the campaign. Steady but unspectacular.

Gary Neville (A++)
Before you go screaming your head at this grade, hear me out first. This is a truely biased grade and I'll gladly put my hands up. If we're grading his playing this season, he gets an outright F. However the true greatness of the man was to bow out when he knew his playing days were numbered. And in doing so gave a chance for the younger players to gain valuable experience, at the same time losing out on a medal at the end of the season. Take note Rio, that's how you freaking become a legend! And the extra + is for turning up with the away supporters at Stamford Bridge! Freaking Legend!

Paul Scholes (A++)
Another super biased grade. I'm a huge huge Scholes fan and rather sad that's he's decided to hang up his boots. But when Father Time robs of the gifts of Mother Nature, retiring is the right thing to do. He had a brilliant start to the season and was our little general in midfield. He was pulling all the strings and for a while there, it looked like he was going to go on for a long long time, however as the season wore on, he got increasingly frustrated that he couldn't produce that level of football and it resulted in some really woeful tackling, which has been his trademark. Ultimately, it probably led to Scholes calling it a day. We will miss you terribly.

Darren Fletcher (B)
Didn't really have a good season and it didn't help that he caught some virus that really prevented him from doing anything meaningful this season.

Park Ji Sung (A+)
You know, there was one season where I used the term 'industrious' to describe him in a rather condescending way. This season is the exact opposite. He's absolutely industrious and in a midfield that lack any sort of creativity, his industry was exactly what was needed. He's possibly one of the brightest spark in a midfield that as woefully short of any.

Ryan Giggs (A)
Some players are like wine, they get better with age. Giggs is one of those rare ones. He's been playing a more central role and somehow at his age, just seems to have bundles of energy. It isn't his best season, but better that the last few season's combined. Maybe the fountain of youth isn't a fantasy afterall.

Antonio Valencia (A)
Started well and ended well. Missed the entire in-between part with a horrible ankle break. When he returned from that injury, he carried on from where he left off, and that's being a huge threat on the right. The only downside of his return is that Nani became rather crap on the left.

Nani (A)
Had his best season in a United jersey. There were times he reminded us of Ronaldo, but such comparisons are unfair to him. He's his own man and this season, he really grew up and became one. He did everything, from creating goals to scoring them. Hell, he could even be counted on to help defend. Not to mention, he's said all the right things to the media, something you rarely hear from players nowadays. The only downside is that he's still prone to exaggration when touched.

Anderson (B)
Really hard to grade Anderson here. He's played a few games and has been rather hit and miss. There were games he absolutely dominated, and there were games he was piss poor. I suppose the talent is there, but the consistency isn't.

Darron Gibson (C+)
I'm trying to be kind to Gibson here. I think the more I see him play, I more I think he's not going to make the cut at Old Trafford. I like the kid, I really do. I admire his grit and desire to etch out a career at Old Trafford, despite the offers he's had in the past for first team football. However at some point in time, he has to know that he's not going to make the cut. We can see it, Ferguson probably sees it, and it's about time he sees it too. I'll be sad to see someone who bleeds red leave, but for his career and future, it just maybe best to part ways. And if you don't make it to the next report card, I'll wish you the best in your future endeavours and as mean-spirted as I am in this blog, I really do mean it from my heart.

Michael Carrick (F)
Didn't want to even include his name, but I eventually have to. He gets an F for fuck off. I'm sure off the pitch he's a fine lad, but bloody hell, he's an absolute nightmare this season (and a few others). This Invisible Man act simply has to stop. It's bad enough playing a midfield that has little to no creativity, we have to handicap ourselves by playing him. He's probably had 4, maybe 5 good games the entire season and 4 of those were against Chelsea. For some unexplainable reason, he just finds his Superman costume against Chelsea and then reverts to being absolutely anonymous. And being anonymous is actually a good thing for us, coz when we do see him, it's usually some fatal fuck up. And he wonders why fans don't warm up to him!

Wayne Rooney (C+)
He came good at the run in, but let's not forget what he did in the beginning of the season. He wanted out and was angling for a good deal, which he got eventually. Despite all the good work he's done in the last couple of months, there are people like me who don't forget. He has since apologised and I have since forgiven....but I don't forget. To be fair to him, he starts on a clean slate next season. Until the next fuck up, I'll be watching.

Dimitar Berbatov (B+)
21 goals, Premiership top scorer and yet he somehow manages to fall down the pecking order. Ordinarily, I would have been screaming my head off that he wasn't included, but then again, it's Berbatov. I think I've finally pinpointed what his problem is, or to be exact, what our problem with him is....he never scores when it matters. This season, he's improved his attitude by leaps and bounds. He's been caught on camera chasing the ball, tackling and gerneally doing the things the fans love to see. There is urgency in his play, especially earlier in the season and it resulted in a hattrick of hattricks, including one against Liverpool, and yet we turn on him, get disappointed with him, and secretly glad he could be leaving. In a way I feel sorry for him. Whatever he does, it just turns out wrong. However having said that, put me in the category of being secretly glad there could be a distinct possiblity of him leaving.

Javier Hernandez (A+)
We did the impossible, we replaced Solskjaer. All he need to do now is to score a last minute goal at the Champions League finals to seal his legendary status. Pure genius move by Ferguson to pluck him out before the World Cup. And the best part is, Chicarito delivered. He did what Berbatov couldn't and that's to score when it counted.

Michael Owen (C)
Well, didn't expect much from Owen. He just didn't get the games and couldn't do much when he did. In any case, still glad he's staying another year, but the competition will get tougher as the young bucks on loan will return to add much needed competition up front in the next season.

There are some players that I would like to comment on that didn't make enough appearnces to garner a grade

Bebe
Don't know what to make of him. There are glimpses of why we paid so much for him, yet at the same time, not enough to justify the amount. However I'm going to take Dwight Yorke's word for it when he mentioned that it would take at least a couple of years for Bebe to settle down in England before his football education even begins. I suspect we're looking at a 4-5 year timeline, like the one we gave Ronaldo and Nani. So we have to make do with some good and loads of poor performances in the meantime.

Gabriel Obertan
Who? Looks like he's not going to make the grade. Like Gibson, it seems likely he's not going to make the cut. There's nothing wrong with his skills level. He's problem is up there in the head. He just doesn't seem to believe he's good enough and it translates to his play. Worse of all, it translates to the fans. Would be surprised to see him make the grade next season.

Wes Brown
Just can't buy a break can he? Looks like he's in Ferguson's doghouse. He's not getting any younger and to be fair to him, I wouldn't mind if he moved on elsewhere to squeeze whatever is left of his playing days. Reminds me of my friend's brother....so much wasted potential.

That probably about covers the all players in the first team. We also have some players who have gone on loan and some have done themselves proud.

Danny Welbeck - Sunderland
Didn't really have the greatest start while on loan, but boy did he burst on to the scene and couldn't stop scoring for the Black Cats. Of all the loanees, it would seem that he's the most likely to feature most prominantly next season. His experience and exploits at Sunderland will auger well in the next campaign.

Tom Cleverly - Wigan
Another one who seems to have done well at another Premiership club. He's goals have been crucial to keep Wigan in the Premiership next season. With the exception of N'Zogbia, he's probably their most important player in the run in. Likely to replace Scholesy position in the team, although it remains to be seem if we are raiding the transfer market.

Macheda - Sampdoria
Hardly did anything worthwhile at Sampdoria. Even he admits it was a waste of time. He's only scored on solitary goal in a cup game and hasn't scored nor featured in a majority of the Sampdoria games. To be fair to him, even the Sampdoria fans admit that the team's piss poor all season.

Mame Biram Diouf - Blackburn
He spent an entire season at Blackburn. Had a blistering start to his Blackburn career with a debut hattrick at Norwich in the League Cup, then scoring days later against Arsenal. But it all petered out, ending the season with only 6 goals in 29 appearances. It's doubtful he'll be around next season with the kind of talent we have upfront.

Ritchie de Laet - Portsmouth
Not very much information here and after all the writing in the past few hours, I'm a little tired to do anymore research. All I know is that he's been playing for Pompey at rightback, despite the left back position he plays for us. Not too sure about his performances, but from what little I read, the Pompay fans seem to be satisfied with him, so he hasn't done too badly I suppose.

Last but not least.....

Alex Ferguson (A++)
Not too sure how the fuck he got this bunch to win the title, but he did. Let's face it, with this midfield, especially playing Carrick so much, it's a wonder we managed to draw so many away games instead of losing them. The thing that has to be said here is that Ferguson has instilled a winning mentality in the team. We never ever say die and keep plugging away until the final whistle. Despite his stubborness in playing some players, he always manages to bring out the best in the team. It will be a sad day for all United fans when Ferguson finally calls it a day. Maybe the defeat to Barcelona might be the best tonic to keep Ferguson going. Just like his teams, Ferguson never gives up.

United Given A Lesson In Football

2011-05-29T05:11:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Barcelona 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (34)
Barcelona: Pedro (27), Messi (54), Villa (69)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Fabio (Nani 69), Evra, Carrick (Scholes 77), Giggs, Park, Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez

It wasn't even close. After bossing the Premier League, United were on the wrong end of the footballing scales and a fish out of water against an incredible Barcelona team, that in my opinion is probably the best footballing side to ever grace the world.

Barring the first 10 minutes, where we worked our socks off to make a semblence of a fight, the rest of the game was all Barcelona. After finding their feet, they went on to completely and utterly dominate the ball and got a deserved lead when Pedro scored for the Catalans.

We pulled one back when they fell asleep 7 minutes later with a well worked out goal which involved Carrick, Giggs and Rooney, but that was probably all that we could muster against the masters of the game. They had such complete control of the ball that we were made to look like a pub team....a very poor pub team. I've mentioned before just how poor our midfield was, and we barely had a sniff of the ball the entire game.

While Van der Sar, Rio and Vidic had superb games to keep the scoreline respectable, Evra was missing from his position all night long. Evra's had some bad night before, but this probably has to rank right up there as one of the poorest EVER.

Barcelona's master class finally broke thru in the second half with goals from Messi and Villa. Only Van der Sar's sheer brilliance prevented a worse whipping for the men in red. As long as this Barcelona remains, Ferguson will have a hard time finding European glory, especially with this midfield that is barely good enough in England, let alone against the prowess of a team like Barcelona.

It's back to the drawing board for Ferguson, and we can only hope with a substantial, rumoured warchest, we'd be able to bring in some real midfielders.

United Records FA Youth Cup Win

2011-05-24T05:13:00.000+08:00

Was glad that I couldn't sleep tonight. I managed to catch the second leg of FA Youth Cup finals between United and Sheffield United (first leg ended 2-2).

Bearing in mind that it's really very very young men playing, I wasn't expecting much, just keeping an eye for players that might make the grade up to the senior team. At the end of the final whistle, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know many of the players, except those that have played in the reserve team earlier in the season when the games were available on my side of the globe. Players like Will Keane, John Cofie, Paul Progba and Ravel Morrison were the names I knew and heard of.

Was a little disappointed that Cofie didn't start but apparently he just returned from a lengthy injury and featured only in injury time. From what I've seen earlier in the season, he's the most likely to make the jump into the first team. He has all the ingredients to make it as a star striker. Not to mention he's body is filled out and could contend against the bigger, tougher defenders the Premiership has to offer, and at the tender age of 18, there's plenty of room to grow. Very Drogba-like in stature (disclaimer: I also said the same about Manucho, and we all knew what happened to him).

The other three mentioned players all started and played promising roles in the 4-1 victory against the Blades. Morrison and Keane both scored twice. In a very poor and nervy first half, Morrison stood out. He scored the first goal of the game, calmly shooting when all around him, everyone was panicking.

Keane scored the second from the spot after a Blades defender handled Morrison's cross.

The second half was a complete turn around. The two goals in the first half seemed to have calmed the nerves of the lads and we played some outstanding football. The two wingers Gyliano van Velzen and Jesse Lingard had good contributions and definitely caught the eye.

Progba was a tad disappointing. Because of his controversial move from the French Ligue 2, it made him someone to take special note of. From what I saw, he oozes with oodles of talent. Great individual skill and range of passing, however his work-rate seemed very Berbatov. Playing as a central midfielder, I was expecting movement, but when the ball is not at his feet, he seems very static. He doesn't seem to move well without the ball to make space for his teammates to find him. Don't know if he has the mental attitude to take it up to another level.

Ravel Morrison scored United's third with a superb individual effort to bring the score up to 3-0. Then went on to showboat alittle and was caught in possession, indirectly setting the Blades up for a consolation goal. Up till then, he was undoubtedly the player of the game, by a wide margin.

Larnell Cole was given a run when he replaced Lingard and his impact was immense. Sheffield United couldn't cope with his skill and pace, and he indirectly set up Keane for United's fourth via another brilliant individual effort. Larnell Cole continued to torment Sheffield United's left side with mazy runs. I'm a little guarded with my praise for Cole. At the point he entered the game, the Blades were furiously chasing the game and left alot of gaps at the back. A little unsure if his impact would have been that great if the game was level.

All in all, it was a great second half that we played, and the players mentioned today caught my attention. There were other players who probably have great potential as well, but I've not been able to comment on them, hence I'm only going by this game that I caught. Hopefully more than just a few can emmulate the Fergie Fledglings.

Oh, before I go off to bed, it's our 10th FA Youth Cup. I'm too lazy to check the stats, but apparently that's a record. Good year to be a United fan!

United Ends Season In Style

2011-05-23T01:44:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 4 - Blackpool 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Park (21), Anderson (62), Evatt (og 74), Owen (81)
Blackpool: Adam (40), Taylor Fletcher (57)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic (Rooney 84), Evans, Rafael (Smalling 46), Evra, Scholes, Anderson, Fletcher, Park (Owen 63), Nani, Berbatov

We finished the season in style with a convincing win against a dogged and feisty Blackpool and with a tinge of regret, sent them back down to the Championship. Blackpool had deserved more for their enterprising style of play but were eventually found wanting at the final hurdle.

The game itself was an awesome spectacle. Blackpool came in knowing that they needed the points to have any chance of survival while in keeping with the integrity of the game, we had to field a team strong enough to compete.

It all started well and dandy for the away side but they squandered two early opportunities before Park latched on to Berbatov's true ball to lift the ball over Gilks and into the net. The celebrations were muted and almost apologetic. Blackpool was not the type of team you root against.

To their credit, they never hung their heads and came with renewed endeavour and eventually found an equalizer via a Charlie Adam freekick before the break.

The game was thrilling but what was more thrilling were the side plots that were emerging from all the current scores at that point from the other relegation candidates. At one point it seemed like 4 teams were stuck on 40 points and goal difference would be the deciders.

Blackpool got their reward early in the second when Taylor-Fletcher gave them the lead and sent their crowd into raptures. Even the Old Trafford crowd were applauding their efforts.

Unfortunately, their joy was shortlived. Anderson scored his first Premier League goal of the season to draw level for the home faithful. To compound matters, Evatt then diverted Smalling's cross into his own net. It was painful and cruel for a team that won the hearts of many during the course of the season.

As Blackpool pushed men forward to find the points for survival, Owen, coming on as a substitute, came on to punish Blackpool with a 4th to effectively seal their doom.

After the game ended, both Ferguson and Van der Sar came forth to address the crowd before the trophy celebrations. I missed most of it as I was busily scrambling to check the scores of the other games. Long story short, we lifted the trophy for the 19th time and now look forward to Neville's testimonial on Tuesday and more significantly, a battle against Barcelona in the Champions League on Saturday.

19

2011-05-14T22:46:00.000+08:00

Blackburn 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Blackburn: Emerton (20)
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 73)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Vidic, Fabio (Scholes 62), Evans, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani (Berbatov 81), Rooney, Hernandez

The title says it all. We finally knocked Liverpool off the fucking perch. Let's hope we keep it that way in the years to come.

This game was anything but a walk in the park. We started off well and Nani hit the crossbar early in the game, but we didn't score and Blackburn took advantage of Kuszczak's poor keeping to score 20 minutes into the game. With Van der Sar leaving at the end of the season, Kuszczak probably himself out of the team. It was a jittery performance of epic proportions and we were lucky to not to be down more with some dodgy handling and poor decision making.

Once Blackburn got their goal, we never really looked like scoring. In fact throughout the game we looked second best for most of the night. Most the the threat came from Blackburn while we laboured to create chances against a parked bus in front of the goal.

The breakthru came from the most unlikely source. Hernandez broke free of the offside trap and was fumbled over by Paul Robinson, resulting in a consultation between the referee and his assistant. The decision was a somewhat harsh penalty. Whilst the ball was running away from Hernandez after a heavy touch, Robinson did bring him down. Rooney took the responsibility and smashed the penalty home to our 19th title.

The remaining time was spent by both teams settling for the point and mucking around with the ball.

Hernandez was no doubt the player of the game if not the season. He's determination and goals this entire season has brought us to the title. And it's a title to cherish in more ways than one.

Firstly, as mentioned earlier, we knocked the scousers off the fucking perch. Secondly, we did it with a somewhat thin looking team on paper. What carried us thru was the whole mental setup Ferguson has instilled in the team. At the start of the season, I would never have expected us to be anywhere near the title challengers, let alone win it with a game to spare. Of course it helps that all the title aspirants managed to somehow fuck up along the way, but take nothing away from the mental strength of this team.

Irregardless of how the Champions League plays out, this has been a special season.

No Place Like Home

2011-05-09T01:18:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (1), Vidic (23)
Chelsea: Lampard (68)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea (Evans 46), Fabio (Smalling 88), Carrick, Giggs, Park, Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez

Champions elect! Surely there can be no way we can fuck this one up even if we tried. 6 points clear and only 6 left to play for, it's going to take a herculean effort just to screw this one up, especially when our next two opponents are Blackburn and Blackpool, both fighting to stay alive in the Premiership.

The day started on a brilliant note. Hernandez was on hand to blaze thru to Park's pass in the opening seconds of the game and he made sure of an early lead, setting the stage alight with an exciting performance by the home team.

It was mostly United right from kick off. Chelsea never really had their engine going and were picked off in midfield by the ever-green Giggs and the ever industrious Park. It wasn't long before we got our second.

Vidic was left unmarked for a Giggs' corner and he grabbed the invitation to head United two up with barely half an hour gone. The title looked firmly in our grasp and Chelsea were left with the impossible to deal.

Despite playing well, we allowed Chelsea to pull one back with Lampard poking home at close range, but the game was mostly well dominated by us. We had the monopoly of chances. Rooney and Hernandez squandered most of the shots which would have made the scoreline more reflective of the wonderful performance we put in on the day.

Next week we travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn. A point would see the title come to Old Trafford and a 19th overall title. More importantly, it means we leapfrog those no-good scousers.

Wembley, Here We Come

2011-05-05T05:14:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 4 - Schalke 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Valencia (26), Gibson (31), Anderson (72, 76)
Schalke: Jurado (34)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Fabio (Evra 59), Scholes (Fletcher 73), Gibson, Anderson, Valencia, Nani, Bervatov (Owen 77)

We're having one of our most important elections in Singapore and I'm spending much of my time convincing family and friends on our options.

To keep things brief, we play a really good game. We probably didn't have as many chances as last week, but this shadow put forth did really well. We smashed 4 past the best keeper in the world and always looked threatening whenever we had the ball.

The important thing here is that we rest our big guns against our big game against Chelsea.

While that game could define our season, I'll probably not be penning my thoughts on it. It's the date that our election results will be announced and and I could very well be drunk on joy or sorrow, depending which way the wind blows.

It's Going Down The Wire

2011-05-01T23:08:00.000+08:00

Arsenal 1 - Manchester United 0
Scorer
Arsenal: Ramsey (56)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Fabio, Evra, Carrick (Owen 85), Anderson (Valencia 56), Park, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 74)

Well, I suppose it all boils down to next week's game against Chelsea. Once again we cannot produce away from home.

But let's not take credit away from Arsenal. They played a really good game. For the first 25 or so minutes, it looked like they were going to run away with the game, just like they have been doing all season. The problem with Arsenal is that they love to pass the ball. It's almost they are in love with the idea of passing the ball and totally forgetting that the whole point of it is to put it into the back of the net. They simply refuse to shoot unless it's a pass into the net.

For all the possession, I didn't think they had a shot on target in the first half and we went into the break deadlocked.

The second half was slightly better from us, but it was Arsenal who struck first blood. A lack of concentration at the back allowed Van Persie to wigggle his way and find Ramsey for the smart finish. Ferguson threw on the big guns but we never looked like scoring.

So it seems that next week's game at Old Trafford is what this season is all about. Win it and we're almost sure of crossing the finish line. Lose it and we're set for a nervous end to the season.

United Dispatches Schalke

2011-04-27T04:54:00.000+08:00

Schalke 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorer
Manchester United: Giggs (67), Rooney (69)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Fabio, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Park (Scholes 73), Valencia, Rooney (Nani 83), Hernandez (Anderson 73)

Surely United must be thru to the finals. I can't possibly see how Schalke can turn this around at Old Trafford in 8 days time. We were dominant in even single aspect of the game and the contest should really have been over within the first half.

Neuer was exceptional. He's a truly special goalkeeper and in my opinion, he's probably the best in the world by a huge margin. It was him who kept Schalke in the game the entire time. We curved the German defense apart at will. Whenever we moved forward, we created a goalscoring chance and by some miracle it remained goalless at the half. Neuer made a couple of point-blank saves and several one on one stops. And all that in the first 45 minutes.

We continued our dominance over the Germans in the second half and Neuer continued to frustrate all our attempts. It wasn't until the 67th minute before we found the elusive breakthru.

Rooney's pin-point passing once again split the Schalke defense and after the umpteenth attempt at goal, Giggs finally managed to slide the ball under Neuer's giant frame to give United a thorouthly deserved lead.

A couple of minutes later, Rooney doubled the lead. This time it was Hernandez who tore the Schalke defense apart with a determined run and a pass that sliced the defense to ribbons.

United took the foot off the peddle and kept possession, while still moving forward when the opportunities arose. The pace of the game dropped as we saw out a good win to bring back to Old Trafford next week.

I doubt, based on today's performance, we would be troubled at all by Schalke. Barring a miracle of epic proportions, we should have secured a path into the finals.

And as a last note, Ferguson must find a way to get Neuer to Old Trafford. If and when we lose Van der Sar next season, Neuer is definitely my first choice replacement. I've been following his exploits in the Bundesliga this season and he's definitely the best out there. And that's made more impressive with the crap defenders he's had to put up with.

2 Wins Away

2011-04-24T00:03:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Everton 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Hernandez (84)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, Fabio, O'Shea (Evra 57), Anderson, Gibson (Giggs 74), Nani (Owen 63), Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez

United took another step closer to knocking to Liverpool off the perch thanks to Hernandez's late goal against Everton.

For a good long while, it looked like a consecutive goalless draw again for the men in red. Everton looked comfortable dealing with what we threw at them and it didn't help matters that we played without any ideas going forward.

Most of our creativity came from the wing play of Nani and Valencia and their crosses were comfortably dealt with by the tall central defenders of Everton. Hernandez was a constant threat, but as the game wore on, it looked like we were fast running out of steam.

Things were looking dire until Distin lost the ball in the 84th minute and Valencia's deflected cross was headed into the net from a rather acute angle by Chicharito. It gave us the 3 points we bearly deserved, but I'll take the 3 points over style.

We're now only 2 wins away from the league title but the schedule looks grueling in the next couple of weeks where we'd have to face Schalke twice in the Champions League and title chasers Arsenal and Chelsea. The next couple of weeks will decide the season.

Time For A Change

2011-04-20T05:04:00.000+08:00

This is going to be an exciting 2-3 weeks. Parliament was dissolved earlier today and nomination set on the 27th of this month. After which we go into the elections proper with it ending on Polling Day on the 7th.

I'll leave you to your decision but remember when GST increases (almost immediately after the elections like in 2001 and 2006) and when you struggle to make ends meet, that we had a chance to make a difference.

All I want is accountability for the ridiculous salaries paid out.

Newcastle 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Valencia 70), Giggs, Nani (Owen 81), Rooney, Hernandez

Sigh, we huffed and puffed and couldn't blow St James Park down. Nothing much to say about the game though.

Newcastle gave it asgood as they got in the first 25 minutes putting immense pressure on our midfield and forcing errors from Anderson, Carrick and Giggs, but there is a reason why teams don't do the same in the beginning of games against us. After that initial flurry of activity, Newcastle literally ran out of gas and we completely controlled the entire game from there.

Maybe it got too easy for us. We never looked like finding the key, let alone open the door to Newcastle's defense.

I suppose another draw away from home is a good result at this stage of the season. We couldn't take advantage of Arsenal's hopelessness yesterday and counter with our own version of extreme hopelessness, with another game gone, and only 5 left to play, a 7 point lead is a massive advantage that we can't complain. All that needs to be done is to go out into the market in the summer and get a bloody midfield.

Silenced By Noisy Neighbours

2011-04-17T02:31:00.000+08:00

Manchester City 1 - Manchester United 0
Scorer
Manchester City: Toure (52)

Red Card
Manchester United: (Scholes 72)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea (Fabio 84), Evra, Scholes, Carrick, Park, Valencia (Hernandez 65), Nani, Berbatov (Anderson 74)

I had a bad feeling coming into this game. The moment I pressed the 'publish' button in the last post, I just had the feeling I would jinx the team just by typing in that damn word 'treble'. With this defeat, it looks like we'd just have to be content with the Premiership, that's if we don't fuck up the rest of the game.

While I think we should beat Schalke in the semis of the Champions League, there's no doubt in my mind that we'd lose badly to either Barcelona or Real Madrid should we progress to the finals. They are currently playing on an entirely different planet.

It's hard to be positive after today's tragic failure. Stupid things were said by our players before the game and it came back to bite them hard in the game. Scholes, in particular, seemed to take it exceptionally bad, evidenced by his reckless challenge on Zabaleta after we had gone one down. His red card seemed alittle harsh, but I don't think any United fan can have any complaints, after seeing Zabaleta's bleeding leg.

The goal by Shitty was a terrible mistake by Carrick. Notice that Carrick only plays well against Chelsea. Every other time, he's about as useless as Hargreaves. And possibly every 5 or so games, he does something incredibly stupid. Sadly he's signed a new contract and Ferguson, being the stubborn mule he is, will stick with him next season.

Speaking of Ferguson, tactically I thought not starting Hernandez was a fatal mistake. With Rooney out, Hernandez was the striker in fine form. Instead he started Berbatov. Although Berbatov really didn't do much wrong, except miss two sitters that Hernandez would have pounced on and given us the lead in the first half.

The team on the whole did as well as they possibly could. You could see the tired legs by the end of the game. Only the 3 substitutes and Park were scampering around the pitch, chasing and harrassing. If we had scored the equaliser, we'd probably would have lost it in extra time. Of course the counter-arguement is that Shitty is really a terrible team and had it not been for a gift by Carrick, they would never have scored anyway.

Let's put this behind us and go seal up the league title, beginning this Tuesday at St James.

United Continues To Haunt Chelsea's Champions League Dreams

2011-04-13T05:02:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (44), Park (77)
Chelsea: Drogba (77)

Red Card: Ramires (70)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Nani (Valencia 75), Rooney, Hernandez

That was quite a game and a shame if you missed it.

We started off slow and shaky, giving away possession easily and failing to control the midfield. Ramires, Essien and Lampard were proving a handful and we didn't help ourselves by acting like little schoolgirls on their first date. O'Shea in particular was pretty abysmal, making silly passes and playing teammates into trouble, but he turned it around for the first goal.

While Chelsea had the early dominance, they were woeful in the last third...and I mean truely woeful. If Torres was bad 6 days ago, he was terrible this week. There must be something in the water or the food at Stamford Bridge that doesn't agree with him, coz he's nowhere even close to the Torres that played at Liverpool.

With Chelsea literally firing blanks, it was a matter of time before we had our spell, and boy did we make it count. O'Shea expertly played Giggs down the byline and Giggs ran away from his defender to place the goal on a platter for Hernandez. The goal came almost at the stroke of half time, deflating Chelsea at a crucial period in the game.

Much to my chargin, the second half saw the ineffective Torres replaced by Drogba. The good thing with a 2 goal lead in the tie was that our heads were held high and we were the much better team at that point in time, creating chances while Chelsea struggled to match up.

Ramires found himself carded for the second time when he took Nani's legs away in the 70th min. It should have signaled the end of the game, but we're United and we somehow tried to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The sending off saw Chelsea find a second wind and they threw caution to the wind and came at us with renewed energy. Drogba found an equalizer with a brilliant individual play after a pass from Essien. At 1-1, all Chelsea needed was another goal to win the tie on away goals.

Earlier in the season, this would have signaled an unlikely cameback by the away team, but United at this stage of the season are made of sterner stuff. Even before Chelsea finished their muted celebrations, they were silenced from this edition of the Champions League by Giggs' quick thinking and Park's quickfire goal.

It was a deserved victory over the two legs and a likely trip to Germany in the next.

The treble dream still lives on, but we're taking it one game at a time, starting with Shitty this weekend.

United Takes Fulham Down In The First Half

2011-04-10T00:32:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Fulham 0
Scorers: Berbatov (12), Valencia (32)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes, Gibson, Anderson (Fabio 76), Valencia, Nani (Carrick 87), Valencia (Owen 73), Berbatov

The contest was over in the first half. A good strike by Berbatov in the 12th minute and a free header by Valencia in the 32nd killed off Fulham.

In truth, barring an uncomfortable save by Kuszczak within the first minute of the kick off, he was never really troubled. We were completely in control of this one from start to finish. Nani and Valencia were simply awesome at the left and right wings respectively. Nani especially had an outstanding game, creating both the goals. Gone are the days where he couldn't play on the left anymore. He has come a long way since last season where he couldn't play on the left to a fabulous performance today. No one in a white shirt could keep up with his pace.

This was almost a perfect performance. We did allowed Fulham possession, but where there to nip any trouble that even looked like surfacing. And on the counter, Nani and Valencia were devastating. It's an absolute shame Nani is not one of the players in the shortlist for PFA player of the year. A bleeding shame.

So as it stands, we have a 10-point cushion, and looking good even without the services of Rooney.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This One's For Rooney

2011-04-07T05:12:00.001+08:00

Chelsea 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (24)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (Nani 51), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Park (Smalling 90), Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 78)

Going to do a chop chop kalipok one here since it's 4.30am in the bloody morning.

Rant mode on.

First off, Rooney's been banned 2 games for mouthing off at the TV cameras on Saturday after scoring his hattrick. He's appealing it and I wqouldn't be surprised to see it extended by another game for a frivolous appeal. As it stands, he misses this weekend's game against Fulham and the following weekend's FA Cup semis against Shitty.

While I think it's wrong of Rooney to do what he did, I think the punishment is absolutely ridiculous and makes a mockery of common sense. Carragher slides in and rips Nani's legs apart and all he gets is a yellow, while Rooney gets banned for saying something naughty at the height of a passionate game. This is why the FA is run by a bunch of highly strung dicks. And after a wiki-search, I discovered that the current top dick is a David Bernstein, a life-long Shitty fan and their ex-chairman. No wonder Rooney's ban was two games. How convenient!

Bah, rant mode off.

Back to today's game, my what a good result. We not only held Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but we came away with a 1-0 victory. And the goal itself was a beauty to boot.

Carrick's long ball was take down wonderfully by Giggs and his cutback to Rooney was perfectly measured. Rooney side-footed the ball off the post and into the net for the winner.

Chelsea had their moments at the end of the first half when Torres struck the post and Evra cleared off the line.

We allowed Chelsea a healthy amount of possession in the second half but their failed to really make much impact. To say we were comfortable was an understatement. We looked really threatening on the counter.

We had to endure some late drama when Evra brought Ramires down in the box in injury time and were really fortunate that the referee waved play-on. And just before the final whistle, it was Torres' turn to be brought down in the box. Unlike the previous foul, this one was an obvious dive and Torres got a booking for it.

For some reason, Carrick seems to find a phone booth to change into his Superman costume almost everytime we face Chelsea. He had an outstanding game along the evergreen Giggs. Valencia was surprisingly good too, especially when he slotted into right back when Rafael was removed from the game via an injury.

Park did have me worried, especially with his first half performance. He kept losing the ball, but he grew from strength to strength as the game wore on. He eventually redeemed his first half performance with a number of really good tackles both in midfield and defense.

And it's great to see Rio and Vidic back in defense. Together, they kept Chelsea at bay. It's surprising to see just how poor Torres has become since making his move to Chelsea. He was hardly featured in the game and, quite frankly, is turning out to be a colossal waste of money.

Overall it's a superb result. The job's not done yet as we have a second leg in 6 days. Another good performance will see us in the semis facing Schalke who pulled off a shocker last night.

Never Write United Off

2011-04-03T00:40:00.000+08:00

West Ham 2 - Manchester United 4
Scorer
West Ham: Noble (pen 11, pen 25)
Manchester United: Rooney (65, 73, pen 79), Hernandez (84)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, Fabio, Evra (Hernandez 46), Carrick, Gibson, Park (Berbatov 64), Giggs, Valencia, Rooney (Nani 88)

We almost threw this game away. In fact at half time, both Kentona and I had conceded that we had allowed Arsenal back into the hunt. Our defending was diabolical, giving away two penalties to West Ham by the half.

Evra was the culprit for the first when he handled Charlton Cole's flick and Noble gave the Hammers an early lead. It was piss poor defending, allowing Cole to run thru.

15 minutes later, we found ourselves two down, when Vidic fouled Cole in the box. Once again Noble found himself at the spot and although Kuszczak dived the right way this time, the shot was too powerful.

Our response, although spirited, never really threatened Robert Green's goal. We were in fact lucky to enter the break with the full compliment of players. Just before the break, Vidic fouled Demba Ba on route to goal and as the last defender, should have been sent off. Instead he only got a yellow, avoiding the second league game in a row which we would have played with 10 men.

Hernandez was introduced in the second half in place of a poor Evra, and almost found himself on the scoresheet but his first touch of the ball sent the ball high and wide with the goal at his mercy. The chance probably came too early but certainly signalled the intent.

Vidic must have been wearing his lucky horseshoe when he once again fouled Ba and referee Lee Mason took a very very lenient view. On any other day, it would have been a second yellow and a suspension for our talismanic defender.

We continued to press hard and West Ham was resolute and frankly, we really never looked like scoring. That was until Rooney finally got his act together after a poor afternoon so far.

We were awarded a freekick and Rooney curled it beautifully beyond the outstretched arms of Green. It was a superb freekick worthy to win any game, but in this instance, we were glad for a fighting chance.

It didn't take long before Rooney produced a second piece of magic with Valencia's pass he received at the edge of the box. His first touch took the ball beyond the West Ham defense and with his second, smacked the ball across the goal and into the net. Vintage Rooney.

The comeback was complete in the 79th minute when Berbatov wiggled his way in , out and around West Ham's defense before Upson finally handled the ball. Mason pointed to the spot and Rooney took up the challenge for his hattrick and an unlikely comeback.

Hernandez piled on West Ham's misery with a typical poacher's goal when he reacted quickest to Gigg's deflected pass.

It's a fabulous result and a tremendous comeback. It was particularly pleasing to see us play with 3 upfront and gratifying to see them play unselfishly, looking for the extra pass to take a better shot.

Even Carrick and Gibson had pretty good games. And Smalling was probably my man of the match, breaking up whatever West Ham threw at us. This was a team and championship performance.

If We Win The Title This Season, It's Down To This Game

2011-03-20T01:17:00.001+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Bolton 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Berbatov (88)

Red Card
Manchester United: Evans (75)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Evans, Brown (Fabio 46), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 46)

10 men, no Ferguson, against the odds, and we came away with a precious victory. This was a superb victory not only in terms of the circumstances surrounding the victory, but also Arsenal dropping points to give us a cushion in the run-in.

We came into this game without a good 75% of our defenders and were practically down to the bare-bones in that department. It was made worse when Johnny was sent off for a terrible tackle in the 75th minute. He now faces a lengthy suspension, while Rio is out for the season and both O'Shea and Rafael incurred hamstring problems at midweek. What was most nerve-wrecking was that we had to employ Carrick as a makeshift central defender to partner Smalling in the last 15 minutes.

We also had a terrible ruling by the FA to suspended Fergie from the touchline for a whooping 5 games, starting with today's game. Although Ferguson's comments were out of line even though it echoed most fans' sentiments, 5 games smacked of a conspiracy to take us off our stride.

Last but not least, we had a grueling game at midweek in the Champions League. The good thing out of that was that we got to face Chelsea in the quarters and hopefully the lads are up for a revenge especially the way we lost to them a couple of weeks ago.

Under those circumstances, a draw would have been a welcome result. Yet after Evans was sent off, we threw bodies forward in search of 3 points instead of protecting the 1, which was absolutely brilliant. Nerve-wrecking but very entertaining. It made matter all the sweeter that Arsenal valiantly fought back from 2 down to draw 2-2 but couldn't get over the hump, while we did. In the grand scheme of the title race, Berbatov's goal was probably the most important to date.

Berbatov's substitution at half time was a head-scratcher. He replaced Hernandez, who had done no wrong, and could so readily have backfired. I know I was bewildered like many others out there, but that's the reason why Ferguson is the manager of this great club and I'm at home blogging.

United Scrapes Thru After Flying Start

2011-03-16T06:10:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Marseille 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (5, 75)
Marseille: Brown (og 81)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Brown, O'Shea (Rafael 36 (Fabio 70)), Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Nani (Valencia 62), Rooney, Hernandez

We really made it hard on ourselves after a blistering opening to the game. We came out of the blocks and took advantage of Merseille's youth. While they were in awe of the moment, Hernandez scored a poacher's goal with a tap-in following Rooney's cross cum shot.

It was opportunities galore but in typical United fashion, we refused to make it count. Gradually Marseille got their act together and had a few threatening moments but were wasteful.

We threatened to swing the gates wide open at the start of the second half, but were once again unable to find the net. Marseille grew in confidence as the game wore on and they started to create chances. The tie was hanging on a balance by a knife's edge, until brilliant play from Valencia and Giggs created another poacher's tap-in for Hernandez with 15 minutes to go.

We should have been home and dry. We really should have. Instead of pressing home our advantage, we took a backseat, hoping to see out the game and were rather unfortunate to have Marseille pull one back when Brown put the ball into his own net. It set up a really tense ending to the game, one that was unneccessary.

Despite the somewhat close scoreline, we were pretty much the better team on the night. There were some really good performances on and off the pitch.

Thumbs Up
UEFA - Definitely got a thumbs up for the support and the minute's silence in the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan. I have to say that the Japanese people as a whole were absolutely brilliant in handling the crisis. I doubt any nation or people in the world would have handled the situation any better. In the face of a life threatening situation, they were still looking out for the people around them and that spirit is commendable, unfortunately will not be replicated anywhere else on this earth.

Rooney - His passing today was quite out of this world. He made some jaw-dropping passes that left me....well...with my mouth gaping. Looks like he could very well be back to his best.

Hernandez - What can you say about this little pea that hasn't been said? He was everywhere and his positioning for both the goals was top class. Not to mention he's in the form of his life. No wonder Berbatov can't get off the bench despite his exploits this season.

Smalling - My word, he's our new man mountain. He's had another top class game. Let's hope it's a consistent thing with him. I remember going crazy over Evans when he first played, but it faded off after sometime.

Thumbs Down
Evra - Was given the captain's armband but it wasn't a captain's performance. He's tackling was ridiculously reckless and was lucky not to have been given a second yellow in the early stages of the second half. That said, he was however, pretty effective going forward.

Ray Wilkins - I was really unfortunate to have this dick as part of the commentating team alongside Billy Leslie. There was nothing he said during the game that wasn't obvious. Not only was he Captain Obvious, he was auditioning for Captain Blowjob. The entire night he was drooling over Rooney's passing even when Rooney didn't pull them off. It was almost this idiot has Rooney's dick in his mouth the whole time. And he crossed the line in the final 10 minutes of the game when he was probably jisming in his pants when Carrick made a long pass. The kicker - Carrick completely missed the target he was aiming for. Chelsea were smart to let his idiot go. All that needs to happen now is for Liverpool to sign him up so we won't get to hear sperm mouth fucking our ears.

Carrick - Didn't have a good game. Didn't have a bad game. Just wanted to put him here.

Kicking Arsenal Out Of The FA Cup

2011-03-13T03:47:00.000+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Arsenal 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Fabio (28), Rooney (49)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, Brown, Evra (Scholes 80), O'Shea, Gibson, Rafael (Giggs 63), Fabio (Valencia 46), Rooney, Hernandez

Both teams where pretty much down in the dumps, affected by bad results recently and injuries. We just had consecutive losses to Chelsea and Liverpool, while Arsenal self-destructed in the Carling Cup finals and were harshly dumped from the Champions League competition by a Martin Atkinson-like referee.

With injuries playing a big part to both managers' selections, it was Ferguson's gimmicky lineup that won the day, to make it a hattrick of competitions that Arsenal were dumped out of. The porn brothers were wonderful make-shift wingers. Their energy, enthusiasm and can-do spirit was a breath of fresh air from Carrick's square passes and hopeless running. Together with Rooney, O'Shea and even Gibson, they formed a formidable 5-man midfield that was able to catch Arsenal twice on the counter-attack, resulting in the first goal.

Valencia replaced Fabio at the half and proceeded to help set up the second and another sweeping move that dumbfounded the Arsenal defense. Arsenal too had their chances, but were foiled by the brilliant Van der Sar. Almunia had his moments too, making a number of incredible saves to keep the contest interesting.

The spectacle was marred by a lengthy injury to Djourou. And in a longer than normal injury time, Scholes tried to his best to get a red card but the referee refused to indulge him.

Overall it was a really good game and a really good result. Rafael and Fabio were exceptional and the return of Valencia might just mean that Nani's injury against Liverpool would not be such a huge miss. Most important of all, Ferguson probably learnt that we can not only survive without Michael fucking Carrick, but we were actually striving.

United Plays Without Midfield And Gets Thrashed By Bitter Rivals

2011-03-07T01:54:00.003+08:00

Liverpool 3 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Liverpool: Kuyt (34,39,65)
Manchester United: Hernandez (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Brown, Rafael (O'Shea 76), Evra, Scholes (Fletcher 84), Carrick, Giggs, Nani (Hernandez 45), Rooney, Berbatov

This was a fully deserved defeat, and a typical end to a horrible week. We started with a diabolical lost to Chelsea, then came the news we were extending Carrick's contract and now climaxing with a terrible defeat to Liverpool.

We had a healthy amount of possession in this game but playing without any midfielders of note, we had no cutting edge. Rooney and Berbatov were left out to dry and a matter of time before Liverpool took advantage. Bar a Berbatov effort that clipped the post, we rarely made our superiority in possession count.

Giggs was having one of those nightmare games where he just kept giving the ball away and again and again. Almost every move United made was single-handedly broken down by him.

And don't get me started on that absolutely useless Michael Carrick. I wonder what in the world Ferguson sees in him to extend his contract. I would have gladly returned him to Spurs for a bag of chips. He provides no attacking impetus and all he does in midfield is make lateral passes, mostly to Scholes. Damn, if Ferguson wanted someone to make lateral passes, he could have hired me. I make pretty sweet lateral passes, and I cost way less. Hell, if he asks nicely, I might even do it for free. If his normal invisible man act wasn't bad enough, he decided to stamp his mark on the game by being absolutely dreadful today.

Suarez danced his way thru our defence and set Kuyt up for the opener, a well deserved goal for the hungrier team. As if watching Giggs and Carrick piss the game away wasn't bad enough, Nani decided to get into the act. He added to his bulging assist number with another one today. With no one around him, he headed a clearance right to Kuyt and set up the second goal on a platter. At that point in time, you knew it was curtains.

The drama for the half hadn't ended. Carragher then proceeded to literally leave his mark on Nani with a dreadful challenge. It almost sparked a mass brawl, with Nani at the centre of it. He was later stretched off the pitch and replaced by Hernandez. Rafael then got himself involved with Skrtal and sparked another come together of the players. Phil Dowd handled both situations brilliantly, unlike some referee at midweek.

Kuyt got his hattrick in the second half when Van der Sar spilled Suarez's freekick. Meanwhile, Giggs and Carrick continued their devastating rampage. Hernandez eventually got a consolation but it was too little too late.

The defeat completely eroded whatever advantage we have in the title race. We now lead Arsenal by a miserly 3 points and they have a goal in hand. Add to that, they seemingly have an easier run in. The only saving grace is that they have a ridiculous injury list.

In truth, we don't deserve the title this season. We have been helped largely by our opponents screwing up at crucial times and our nonchalant style of play is finally catching up to us. By now, it must be crystal clear to Ferguson that our don't have a midfield. For a huge part of the season, we've been riding on Nani's shoulders in that department. We need to spend in the summer to bring in suitable replacements for the aging and the incompetent. No more excuses.

That being said, I somehow get the feeling that despite the proclaimations that funds are avilable, it's somewhat a smokescreen. The fact we so willingly extended the contracts of Fletcher and Carrick seems to tell a different story. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Fletcher, but his form this season leaves alot to be desired. And don't get me started on Carrick again, I could go on and on and shame the Duracell bunny.

As much as I want us to win, I think this defeat could very well open Ferguson's eyes to what most of us fans have known for a long time - that this squad simply isn't good enough. If he doesn't, or can't, see this, then perhaps he's no longer the manager to lead us forward.

WWE Ref Bodyslams United's Title Bid

2011-03-02T12:46:00.003+08:00

Chelsea 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Chelsea: Luiz (54), Lampard (pen 79)
Manchester United: Rooney (30)

Red Card: Vidic (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra (Fabio 81), Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes (Giggs 70), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 70)

To say I'm miffed is a gross understatement. Like Ferguson, I'm fuming mad. Instead of running away with the title, we're now stuck in a dogfight and serverely handicapped by a referee who is more worthless than Rob Styles. At this level of the game, it's shocking that a referee can influence a game this badly and subsequently the outcome of a season.

Martin Atkinson decision not to send David Luiz off, not once, not twice but thrice, was shameful and dastardly. Eventually his decision, or non-decision, resulted in the equalizer scored by Luiz, of course. To compound matters, He gave away a ridiculously soft penalty. Zhirkov ran into Smalling and was rewarded with a spot kick that sealed United's fate.

Against such odds, it was almost impossible to come away with anything from a game like this. But Atkinson wasn't finished with his destruction of United. He produced a diabolical red card to Vidic as the game ended to ensure a tough match up at Anfield over the weekend.

I've seen some piss poor refereeing in my 30 odd years of watching football, but this has to rank up there as probably one of the worst ever. Even the notoriously poor refereeing in the WWE and NBA can't be as blatant as this.

This was one of the rare games that we actually played rather well away from Old Trafford. It's a shame the referee had to spoil it. Of course the conspiracist theorist in me feels that this goes beyond the referee and a larger agenda at work. In part this is also probably a payback for the elbow that Rooney got away with in the midweek where he was lucky not to receive a red.

All that matters now is to look forward to Anfield this weekend. It's going to be tough without Vidic, Rio or even Evans. Looks like we'd be having some problems fielding someone to partner Smalling. Maybe Wes Brown might finally get a look in.

Last but not least, curse you Martin Atkinson!

Clinical Finishing Wins The Day

2011-02-27T00:52:00.003+08:00

Wigan 0 - Manchester United 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (17, 74) Rooney (84), Fabio (87)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Gibson 77), Fletcher, Nani (Fabio 85), Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 77)

Wigan were the slightly better team for 74 minutes, then Hernandez struck with his second goal of the night to seal the win. He scored early in the first half with a clinical strike after some good work from both Rooney and Nani.

United floundered after scoring the initial goal and played rather nonchalantly, allowing Wigan to play their passing gaming. Van der Sar kept the home team at bay with 3 crucial saves before Rooney set Hernandez off with only the keeper to beat and took all 3 points for the team. We'd be missing Van der Sar when he hangs up his boots at the end of the season.

Berbatov came on for Hernandez and he provided the tap-in for Rooney for the third. It was very unselfish play by Berbatov to find Rooney. He could have taken the shot himself but instead rewarded Rooney for a lung-bursting run into the box. With his play serverely threatened by the scoring prowess of Hernandez, he showed that 'team' glory was all that mattered.

Fabio scored his first goal for the team to put the icing on the cake.

We weren't exactly the better team for much of the game, but the difference between the teams was the quality we exhibited upfront when it mattered. It was a superb display of finishing where all our frontmen contributed.

Midweek - Chelsea....bring it on.

Scoreless In France

2011-02-24T05:44:00.002+08:00

Marseille 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Vander Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson (Scholes 73), Nani, Rooney, Berbatov

Crawley was bad. This was lightly better. But only marginally. Again the problem tonight was the midfield. There was little to no flow to the game, and it didn't help our cause when everyone was sloppy on the ball and giving it away like some McDonald's happy meal toy.

I've always hated 0-0 draws away from home in Europe. Not scoring away from home in a competition where away goals count for double is simply criminal. 0-0 draws simply give you a false sense that the job is half done and we've seen it with this team in this competition time and time again how complacency sets in and we end up out of the competition.

The good thing here is that Marseille is just as bad. Neither side looked like scoring and neither side came close which of course resulted in this terribly boring result.

Hopefully we'll show some fire in the second leg at home.

United Craws Into The Next Round

2011-02-20T03:11:00.004+08:00

Manchester UNited 1 - Crawley Town 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Brown (28)

Team: Lindegaard, O'Shea, Bown, Rafael (Smalling 54), Fabio (Fletcher 69), Carrick, Gibson Anderson (Rooney 46), Obertan, Bebe, Hernandez

There have been some seriously poor performances by this team the entire season, but seriously.....what the fuck is this shit!? Although it's our second-stringers, you'd think this bunch of yahoos would have grabbed the chance to impress the boss. Instead, they went out to completely comfirm to everyone that they simply aren't good enough and the summer transfer window can't come quick enough.

The only silver lining that can be taken from this game is that there is still one department that doesn't need strengthening and that's the defense. Our porn brothers, Fabio and Rafael were outstanding, but we already knew that from past performances. O'Shea, Brown and Smalling are quite reliable. Only Lindegaard wasn't tested today.

The midfield was non-existent. As far as I'm concerned, Carrick might as well not played today. Anderson was disappointing.

Gibson had a good enough first half with a few good passes, but completely faded away in the second. There was no energy in his play and quite honestly, today's game confirms that he's not our answer in midfield. If you can't even dominate a midfield against a non-league side, especially when your career is on the line, then you can only be summed up by the word 'journeyman'. Good enough for other teams, possibly not good enough for United.

Obertan probably falls into the same catagory. In his case, he's skilfull, but he's decision-making is simply shocking. After almost 2 seasons with the reserves he still can't make a simple pass. That goes to show just what a waste of talent he is. And to think, we released Tosic!

Bebe wasn't any better. In fact he was terrible. As of right now, he's probably 5 times worse than Obertan. The only thing in his favour is that it's still his first season here and hopefully, for his case, we can see some visible strides of improvement as he moves into the second season. Ferguson must have been shaking his head over the money spent after today's underwhelming performance.

As mentioned earlier, there are so many holes in our squad right now and summer can't happen soon enough. We're lucky injuries haven't hit us hard this season. Not yet anyway. With the exception of Valencia, no one important has sustained any long term injuries. It would be really scary if a Nani or a Berbatov were to get injured and we had to rely on this bunch. Touch wood, and let's hope we get thru the season unscathed.

Sensational Rooney Strike Shuts Noisy Neighbours

2011-02-12T23:05:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Manchester City 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Nani (41), Rooney (77)
Manchester City: Silva (65)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes (Carrick 78), Fletcher, Anderson (Berbatov 67), Giggs, Nani, Rooney

It wasn't a classic Manchester derby, but Rooney's magnificent strike when it looked like a drawn game gave the good guys all 3 points and bragging rights for another season. It was a goal that was worthy to win any game, and possibly one of the best goals scored this season, if not THE goal of the season, given the circumstances, occasion and importance.

Just fresh from our first league defeat to Wolves, Ferguson opted for a conservative lineup, spreading 5 across midfield and Rooney as the target man upfront. We gave Shitty too much respect and it showed on the pitch. Our play was laboured and slow, and with Giggs misplacing passes all over the pitch, it made for a ragged performance. Although Shitty created the better chances, they weren't any better and for good periods in the game, you'd wonder if it would end as a dull 0-0 draw.

Yet, by some divine intervention, Nani found himself one on one against Hart and firmly slotted the ball home to give United the lead into the half. This time round, Giggs' misplaced pass was wonderfully controlled by Nani on a rare United counter and he made no mistake.

The second half was again poor from both sides but Shitty threw on Dzeko and it was his contribution that brought Shitty back into the game. He's powerful shot deflected heavily against Silva and wrongfooted Van der Sar, and both teams were back on level terms.

Just as the game decidedly looked like a 1-1 draw, Rooney produced a piece of magic that shattered whatever illusion Shitty had of the title race. Nani's cross was superbly met by Rooney's overhead kick and the shot thundered into the Shitty net. Hart had his feet rooted to the ground, and could only admire the majesty of the shot. The goal took the wind off Shitty's sails and they wimpered away into the night with their tails between their legs.

Until the goal, Rooney was having a terribly evening, but he reminded everyone that he possessed that little bit extra, and repaid Ferguson's faith in starting him instead of Berbatov.

The win maintained our comfortable lead at the top, but the utmost concern is still the level of our play. We're regressing back into the kind of form that has plagued us in the beginning of the season.

Some Great Stuff

2011-02-07T04:26:00.003+08:00

Just wanna post something to rub of that taste off my mouth after yesterday's horrible game.

First off, here's a awesome article by Tony Adams on Fergie's Fledglings. Loved the part where the young ones hired a minibus out of their own pockets just to scout out the opponents. Top stuff for us to know. As fans, you just love reading these tiny bits of trivia.

Alpha Beaten By Omega

2011-02-06T03:24:00.004+08:00

Wolves 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Wolves: Elokobi (10), Doyle (40)
Manchester United: Nani (3)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans (Smalling 65), Rafael, Evra, Carrick (Scholes 46), Fletcher, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov (Hernandez 65)

I had the strangest feeling while watching the earlier thriller between Newcastle and Arsenal, that this would be a really bad night for us. After seeing Arsenal collapse after taking a 4-goal cushion, I was pretty darn sure we were going to do one up on them. I even dropped Kentona an sms before the game to register my fears.

It's been a strange night of sorts. There were an insane number of goals scored and a couple of hattricks to go around. And when Tissue Boy (Saha) grabs 4 goals in a game, you just have to check if the moon was really blue. Sadly the only thing blue right now is my mood.

We started the game brilliantly. Nani pulled off a stunner in the opening minutes and it looked like we could very well be heading for a good night. But it was not to be. It didn't take Wolves long to find an equalizer. Elokobi rose and headed Jarvis' cross powerfully into the net.

We tried to regain the lead but were quite frankly terrible. The awful state of the pitch didn't help matters. Wolves grabbed the lead when we went to sleep from another set-piece.

Did I mention that we were really terrible? I can't remember having a shot on target in the second half when we were chasing the game and going for a record 30th game unbeaten in the league. Tempers were heated and stupid fouls were made, but we came nowhere close to finding the net.

Our terrible away form has finally come back to bite us in the arse. The only silver lining I can take from this defeat is that we can finally put to bed the whole notion of going thru the season unbeaten and emulating that fantastic Arsenal team. To put it simply, we didn't deserve it.

Now, let's just go on and fucking win the league.

Thank You, Gazza

2011-02-03T06:12:00.002+08:00

Gary Neville announces his retirement today, with immediate effect.

Rooney Comes Good

2011-02-02T07:46:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Aston Villa 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (1, 45), Vidic (63)
Aston Villa: Bent (58)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Fletcher (Anderson 33), Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov

Ferguson fielded his first team and it showed. Murmurings that Hernandez would soon displace Rooney in the starting lineup were quickly dispelled by the man in question.

Rooney superbly collected Van der Sar's long punt and smashed it past Freidel in the first minute of the game to quickly remind all doubters that his desmise was wildly exaggerated as he once again proved all doubters, including myself wrong. What was most encouraging from the goal were that the celebrations were directed at Van der Sar, whose punt was controlled by Rooney. It's a stark reminder that how much the players and fans love and trust our soon-to-be-retired custodian.

The goal gave United the platform to play their normal cool and collected game against a strong Aston Villa side. To even suggest this Aston Villa side was 'strong' was abit of an overstatement despite their recent successes. We completely dominated proceedings. The floodgates should have been opened but for wasteful opportunities all round the pitch.

Rooney made no mistake in injury time in the first half when he tapped in Nani's incredible cross to double the scoreline at the break. Villa were nowhere to be seen at this point in time.

The second half saw a brief Villa enjoyed a brief renaissance in the second half that saw the deficit sliced in half with a wonderful breakaway goal by new boy, Bent, and could have levelled when Ashley Young's cross cum shot clipped the crossbay, but that was as close as Villa came.

Normal service was resumed when Vidic volleyed home after some good work by Rooney to etch out some space in the box. The two goal advantage was quickly restored with some flair and United went on to completely play Villa off the park.

Rooney could have ended the night with a hattrick but was unlucky on two more occasions.

This was one of the rarer performances where we played well for almost the entire 90 minutes, with Rooney standing heads and shoulders above his peers. For once since his debacle, he was worth his salary. For anyone wondering, he's still a long way from getting into my good books. For now, it's forgiven, but not forgotten.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea had come-from-behind victories to keep the status quo, but we're still standing pretty with a commanding lead. If we can maintain our current form and our feet grounded, we stand a good chance for the prize at the end of the season. This could very well turn out to be a good season despite my misgivings at the start of it.

Comeback Kings

2011-01-30T03:16:00.003+08:00

Southampton 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Southampton: Chaplow (45)
Manchester United: Owen (65), Hernandez (75)

Team: Lindegaard, Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Rafael (Brown 46), Scholes, Anderson (Nani 58), Gibson (Giggs 58), Obertan, Owen, Hernandez

That's twice in a week we came back from a deficit at the half to win the game. Once again we had to endure an uninspired. And once again, it was probably Giggs who made the difference when he came on for Gibson midway in the second half.

This time round, the first half performance was somewhat forgivable. In light of the packed fixture ahead, Ferguson decided to field a team largely made of reserves and second stringers.

Andes Lindegaard also made his debut and did a credible job. Didn't look like he has any weaknesses in his game, but it's still early to tell. At the moment it looks like a straight fight between him and Kuz for the position in between the posts until some of the rumours surrounding that spot do materialize.

Like midweek, we took advantage of Southamton's fatigue of closing us down all game and hit them with 2 goals to win the tie. Owen scored a poacher's header after good work by Obertan, and Hernandez sealed the win after a truly incisive pass from Giggs set him free.

With the win, we avoided adding another game to an already packed looking fixture in the next couple of weeks. More importantly, it also gave the reserves and second stringers some much needed game time, not that many did well though. Still it allowed our mainstays some rest as the next game comes on Tuesday in the form of a resurgent Villa side that has won their last 3 games.

Epic!

2011-01-26T05:31:00.003+08:00

Blackpool 2 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Blackpool: Cathcart (15), Campbell (43)
Manchester United: Berbatov (72, 88), Hernandez (74)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, Rafael (Anderson 80), Evra, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson (Giggs 46), Nani, Rooney (Hernandez 66), Berbatov

What a game! As a football fan, you can't ask for more. 100 minutes of football, 5 goals, an epic comeback! The only downside was a worrying injury to Rafael who spent a good 5 minutes on the ground with a suspected concussion and subsequently sent to hospital. Word out is that he should be fine which is a relief.

This was literally a game of two halves. The first half was a downright diaster. Barring Van der Sar, no one played an average game. Everyone was rubbish. Credit however has to go to Blackpool who brought the game to us. They were absolutely brilliant and their hardwork paid off with two good headers from corners. It was nothing more than they deserved.

At the end of the half, I had already resigned to defeat, half wishing we had the type of fight and endeavour Blackpool showed. I was almost glad that our first defeat would be to add to Blackpool's wonderful fairy tale story so far. They really impressed me and believe me, I'd be rooting for them the rest of the season. Good, hardworking, honest team.

The thing here about United is that you can never write us off. We just never backdown, never give up. And today's game is the biggest indication of our desire not to go into the night with our heads hanging down.

The Giggs' subsitution at the half was inspirational. As Blackpool began to tire, we began to stamp our authority on the pitch, and really piled on the pressure in the last 30 minutes of the game to not only draw level, but to take off 3 points.

As industrious as Blackpool were, we showed that the game is played for 90 minutes. The Tangerines gave too much in that first half rampage and left themselves totally exhausted in the last quarter of the game, completely exposed to our pressure. Berbatov grabbed a brace and Hernandez's goal in between those gave us an unlikely win. In the added 10 minutes for Rafael's injury, we looked the most likely scorers and Blackpool were almost, sadly, reduced to walking pace. They had given their all, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

The win moved us 5 points clear at the top of the table. It also marked only our third away victory in the league this season, which is clearly not good enough for a team with title aspirations. Anyhow, I'm feeling alot more relaxed with this win. It was a great game and a real down and up experience. A great way to start the day!

Berbatov Grabs A Hattrick Of Hattricks

2011-01-23T00:52:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 5 - Birmingham 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (2, 31, 52), Giggs (45), Nani (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra (Fabio 45), Carrick (Gibson 25), Anderson, Giggs (Owen 55), Nani, Rooney, Berbatov

If only Berbatov can play away the way he plays at Old Trafford. He grabbed a third hattrick today against a toothless Birmingham. Either Birmingham were shockingly poor or we were sensational.

We practically dominated the game from start to finish. Berbatov opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and we never looked back. We missed a boatload of chances before he added a second to leave the result beyond doubt.

Giggs added a third at the end of injury time in the first half to give us a commanding lead. The goal was a beauty, involving sweet inter-play between both Berbatov and Rooney.

We took the foot off the pedal in the second half and allowed Birmingham to have possession, but it was Berbatov who found the mark for the third time in the game.

Nani added a fifth with a fine individual effort.

We were at our finest today. If only we can build on this and play similarly week in week out. I suppose there has to be a starting point and hopefully this is the springboard for us to play at a much higher level to blow our opponents away. It's important to go into the next game against Blackpool with the same level of commitment and movement.

Today's been a really good day all round and if we can win our game in hand against Blackpool in the midweek, we should be in a commanding position to take the crown.

Got Away With One

2011-01-17T02:30:00.003+08:00

Tottenham 0 - Manchester United 0
Red Cards
Manchester United: Rafael (74)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani (Anderson 62), Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov (Hernandez 78)

Phew, gotta say we escaped with a point. This was never going to be an easy fixture, facing a Spurs side filled with attacking talent.

As usual, our away malaise persisted and we continue to play like fuck. The going got more difficult in the 74th minute when Rafael was sent for an early shower after a rather harsh second yellow card, but it wasn't unexpected. Rafael was totally immersed in the game and was rather rash with some of his tackles throughout the game and after some persistent rough play probably left the referee with little choice but to brandish the red card.

The game itself was a drab and dull affair. Both sides failed to control any semblance of a passing game, although Spurs was slightly better with Modric pulling the strings. They, however, failed to make any telling contributions in the final third.

We were no better. Barring a Rooney strike in the second half that somewhat troubled Gomez, we were absolutely horrid for a tabletopping side. The draw was probably the best result for two unconvincing sides. Spurs proved that they could stand toe to toe with the big sides, and while we topped the table and kept our unbeaten record. The sending off made things slightly more uncomfortable but we managed well in the final 16 or so minutes.

Once again, I must stress that we must improve on our level of play. Besides the defense that kept an unlikely cleansheet, everyone else must improve. Our away form is shocking and could very well be our achilles heel. And when Nani is not performing, nothing seems to work for us. Once again, we're left too reliant on one player.

It seems that Ferguson is finding it hard to motivate the players to perform at a high level. I, too, am at a loss of how to improve the team barring an injection of new blood. That said, Ferguson seems confident that this is the squad to take us to the end of the season. I suppose we can only trust Ferguson to know what he's doing. Hopefully Valencia and Park returning in the near future will give us more options to shuffle a stale looking deck.

United Bore Liverpool To 4th Round

2011-01-10T12:00:00.004+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Liverpool 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Giggs (pen 2)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Evans (Smalling 84), Rafael, Evra, Fletcher (Anderson 62), Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez (Owen 75)

What a putrid game to sit thru. It was so boring that I immediately fell asleep right after the final whistle. Once again, we failed to find any sort of flair and probably played our worst game of the season.

We were lucky on two accounts. First, we got to face a Liverpool side that is on a huge decline. Even the appointment of Kenny Dalglish failed to movtivate this bunch. Although it was a somewhat spirited performance by the scousers, they were truely pathetic.

Then there was that penalty decision that everyone was talking about. Berbatov dived in the first minute and Howard Webb bought it line, hook and sinker. Unlike Walcott, the day before, Berbatov still insists it was a genuine penalty.

Shameful.

But not as shameful as the way we approached the game after Giggs put away the spot kick. It was as uninspired as it could get. With the exception of probably Rafael and Hernandez, no one in a red shirt gave a shit out there. No one was interested in fighting for the ball and no one was moving and making space for the passes.

Gerrard then foolishly got himself sent off for a leg-breaking tackle on Carrick. Carrick was lucky to be unhurt by the challenge and Gerrard was rightly given his marching orders. Things got worse playing against ten men.

The only reason that kept me watching the game instead of switching to the Spurs game was the prospect and hope that we would finally wake up and pound the living daylights of our once hated rivals.

Sadly, that never materialized. Barring a 20 second spell where Reina make a quintuple of fine saves, the game fettered out into a borefest.

I have absolutely no doubts that if we bring this Night of the Living Dead performance into most of the games remaining this season, there is absolutely no way we're going to win anything. There is going to be a huge injection of pride and motivation if we're going to take anything from Spurs at White Hart Lane next week.

Nani Sinks Stoke

2011-01-05T07:18:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Stoke City 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (27), Nani (62)
Stoke City: Whitehead (50)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Gibson (Carrick 78), Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez (Owen 78)

Once again we failed to overwhelm our opponents despite dominating the bulk of the game. The good news however is that we still managed to gather all 3 points after a lacklustre display.

Hernandez opened the scoring when he nipped in front of Shawcross to poke home Nani's low cross to send the Old Trafford crowd wild. We should have had killed the game but no one had their scoring boots on. All our shots went wayward.

Inside the first 5 minutes of the second half, Stoke equalized via a header from Whitehead. Our defenders were caught in Neverland and Whitehead capitalized to pull the game level. We looked shaky until Nani's wonderstrike just after the hour mark.

From then on, we completely kept Stoke out of the game without threatening to pull further away. Our passing in the last third was severely lacking and the game petered out to a close 2-1 victory.

What was encouraging was the play of both Smalling and Rafael. Both handled their defensive duties well. The only blemish was allowing Whitehead's header, but that responsibility fell mostly to Vidic and Evra.

On the attacking side, Nani was a welcome sight. He's goal brought us the points, and while he did show his usual scintillating runs down the flanks, he did a wonderful job providing the spark and link up play.

If there was one downside was the play of Gibson. I'm beginning to feel very underwhelmed by him. Besides a wicked shot (which has been missing), he's just a very mediocre player. There is nothing outstanding about his play. At the same time, there's nothing he does poorly either. Perhaps that's exactly his problem, he's a very average player when his shot is not there. Probably someone good enough for a second rung club like Birmingham or Wolves, but I don't really see a future for him at United. Afterall, as Kentona once mentioned, we already have Carrick for that.

All in all, it's a good result today. We've come away with 10 points from a hectic festive fixture and that's a really good haul.

Next we get to play Liverpool in the FA Cup this weekend, followed by another imposing game against Spurs, who'd love to avenge the defeat at Old Trafford.

United Survives Hawthorns

2011-01-01T23:09:00.003+08:00

WBA 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
WBA: Morrison (14)
Manchester United: Rooney (2), Hernandez (75)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Vidic, Neville (Fabio 71), Evra, Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher, Obertan (Gibson 61), Rooney, Berbatov (Hernandez 61)

Hmmm....where shall we start? First off, we were terrible...really terrible. Secondly, WBA should have won with plenty of leg space to put most first class seats in most airlines to shame.

Granted we started off early with a Rooney goal from open play to usher in the New Year, we were second best for most parts of the game. Neville, in particular, was just abysmal. I know he's been a loyal servant and a key part in alot of our past success, but the current version lacks the timing and positional sense to play the game at this level anymore. He was caught out of position time and time again and to make matters worse, he's been caught for pace and left for dead. He should have been sent off early in the game with a crude tackle in the box, but was let off when the referee waved the game on despite it being an ironclad penalty.

It's embarassing to watch a legend fall so badly. Ferguson should stop trying to shame the poor fellow and let him slowly fade into the sunset. There are options at rightback if Ferguson is willing to put away his biasness.

Obertan is the other player in red that was utterly disappointing as well. There is no doubts that he has oodles of skills, but for some reason, he just doesnt't know how to deal with it. He's decision making is some of the worst I've seen in football. Nani and Ronaldo have been guilty of making some poor choices on the pitch, but Obertan takes the cake. Some of the stuff he does )or doesn't do), just baffles the mind. Nevertheless, I'm not willing to write him off yet. If we exercised the amount of patience on both Nani and Ronaldo, then it's only fair we give Obertan the same amount of time to establish himself and learn the game properly. Yet for some reason, I feel he just might not make the grade.

As for everyone else, I suppose they did enough. We were lucky that WBA missed a penalty while they were completely dominating the game. That penalty miss deflated them and Hernandez went on the sub salt in their wounds with a game winner.

We've chalked up our second away win and have temporarily broken away from the chasing pack, albeit for a few hours.

Oops, We Did It Again

2010-12-29T06:59:00.002+08:00

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

2010-12-27T02:43:00.000+08:00

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

2010-12-14T05:57:00.003+08:00

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

2010-12-08T05:36:00.003+08:00

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

2010-12-01T05:36:00.002+08:00

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.

United Romps To The Top In Emphatic Fashion

2010-11-28T01:57:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 7 - Blackburn 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (2, 27, 47, 62, 70), Park (23), Nani (48)
Blackburn: Samba (83)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic (Evans 64), Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Anderson, Park (Obertan 72), Nani, Berbatov, Rooney

Shocking stuff! Given how we've played the entire season, this is the last thing you'd imgaine possible, yet we smashed 7 past a hapless Blackburn team. Berbatov was in sensational form, almost grabbing his hands on a double hattrick.

There's a marked difference between this game and the rest before this - we started actually playing football right from the kickoff. There was a urgency and a desperation that's been sorely lacking in previous games that finally reared its head today. Getting the early goal from normally goal-shy Berbatov helped kicked things off.

It gave the lads confidence and there was no let up. Berbatov was outstanding, grabbing 5 of the 7 and the team as a whole played probably their best game in eons. We probably could have had more but that's just me being greedy. We've erased Chelsea's superior goal-difference in one fell swoop and took pole position in the most emphatic and unimginable fasion.

It's still too early to announce that we've arrived. There's still alot of work to do and a whole lot of games to be played, especially when you consider we have to face both Arsenal and Chelsea back to back in the next few weeks. But this result will signal to the rest of the league that we're possibly back to our best, and playing with our best front two.

All we need now is consistency, especially from Berbatov and in a smaller way, Rooney. This feast or famine act is growing old and all we want is some consistency over a sustainable period of time. 5 goals from Berbatov is a mighty achievement, but the last time he scored was a hatrick in Sept against Liverpool. He needs to bring it on every game.

In any case, it was an outstanding game, not only by Berbatov, but by the entire team. Bring on the big boys.

Rooney's Late Penalty Sees Off Stubborn Rangers

2010-11-25T05:37:00.003+08:00

Rangers 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 87)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Fabio, Carrick, Scholes (Anderson 67), Giggs, Nani (Obertan 76), Berbatov (Hernandez 76), Rooney

Pretty good game considering the circumstances. Rangers parked the bus for most of the game and despite some quality chances spurned by our misfiring front pairing, we eventually prevailed when Fabio was caught by a high boot late in the game to earn a penalty. Rooney put it away to give us a well deserved victory and thru into the next round of the Champions League.

This game was particularly sweet in that practically everyone in a red jersey had an outstanding game. It's hard to find fault with anyone on the pitch today. Van der Sar had some nervy moments early in the game with his wayward kicks, but redeemed himself with a couple of good saves.

Berbatov brought his A game today and was rather unfortunate not to find his name on the scoresheet. Maybe all the rumours of him leaving are starting to get to him. He was running his socks off and his first touch was absolutely brilliant. Even the much maligned Carrick was outstanding besides Scholes.....a rarity, but much appreciated.

But the man of the moment has to be Fabio. Right from the kickoff, his boundless energy stood out. He was up and down the left flank, supporting Giggs. It's a pity the guy ahead of him in the squad is Evra. In my book, Fabio is heads and shoulders above his brother Rafael. He times his tackles well and whips in a wicked cross. I think he would make a good left winger should the need arises.

United Beat Nine Men Wigan

2010-11-21T02:20:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Evra (45), Hernandez (77)

Red Cards
Wigan: Alcaraz (59), Rodallega (62)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick (Hernandez 65), Park (Scholes 56), Obertan, Nani, Macheda (Rooney 56)

Life doesn't get easier when you're at the wrong end of the table. Wigan started the brighter of the two teams but found themselves 2 men and 2 goals down when the final whistle blew. With the result, we suddenly found ourselves sharing top spot with Chelsea in a strange weekend that saw both Chelsea and Arsenal lose. Both losses come in surprising fashion. Chelsea hardly loses, but they've lost twice in successive weeks. And Arsenal lost at home against hated rivals Spurs after going 2-zip up at half time.

Meanwhile we struggled against unfancied Wigan at home and were a tad bit fortunate to be up at half time with a well taken header by Evra right at the stroke of half time. Up to that point, we never looked like scoring. It was a poor poor performance and we struggled to string a couple of passes together. The team was disjointed and unmotivated. Yet Park somehow found space on the right side of the pitch to swing in a cross for his best friend in a United jersey to head home the lead.

The half time team talk didn't improve the way we played. Ferguson's team talk in the dressing room did nothing to spur the players to a higher level of play. Martin Atkinson decided to give the men in red an advantage and sent Alcaraz for a second bookable offense on Fletcher. On hindsight, it was a poor poor decision that decided the fate of Wigan. Alcaraz barely touched Fletcher, but the decision stood.

To compound matters, Rodallega jumped into a two-footed challenge on Rafael barely three minutes later that saw Wigan reduced to 9 men. Surely now with a two man advantage and almost half an hour to go, we'd be seeing a red tide rise to overwhelm the Wigan defense.

But our play was so poor and so laboured that the avalanche of goals we were expecting didn't materialize. Even with a 2-men advantage, we were, quite frankly, awful. The United of the past would have passed Wigan to death...and then somemore. This version of the United was just terrible.

We did eventually kill the game off late, but that was mostly due to Wigan's overworked defense finally falling apart and not really our killer instinct taking over. We were just so shockingly poor, spurning chance after chance. There is just no creativity, no killer pass to beat our opponents anymore. The never-say-die spirit is still there, but it's about the only thing left.

That said, we're somehow sitting pretty, unbeaten, with Chelsea at the summit of the table. This has been one crazy season so far.

Oh and Rooney's back in the team. Ho hum.

United Fails To Win Thriller

2010-11-13T22:46:00.003+08:00

Aston Villa 2 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Aston Villa: Young (pen 72), Albrighton (76)
Manchester United: Macheda (81), Vidic (85)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Smalling 86), Nani, Berbatov (Macheda 73), Hernandez ( Obertan 73)

My word, what a thriller. Don't let the scoreline fool you. We were terrible for 80 minutes and only came alive in the final ten. Against a fairly depleted Villa side, this should count as a poor result, yet the comeback in the final 10 minutes is something to savour. It's a pity we couldn't have done it earlier in the game, but our front players were so poor that I didn't think they had a shot on target the entire game.

Villa were value for their lead. Ashley Young earned a penalty which he took himself. Prior to that, Villa had come close twice, both efforts hitting the woodwork.

In response to Villa taking the lead, Ferguson replaced both his strikers with Macheda and Obertan. Berbatov was back to his usual self. Sorry, he was worse than his usual self, he was trying hard to be Carrick. Hernandez wasn't much better either. He was on a one man mission to maim every Villa defender.

Promptly after the subsitutions, Villa went 2 up with a United-styled counter attack. Albrighton was on the end of the attack and he made no mistake to put ball into the net. Things looked really bleak. 2 goals down with less than 15 minutes left on the clock.

Cue Macheda. Having made his name against Villa, Macheda popped up to rifle Fletcher's backheel to pull one back for us. And only minutes later, Vidic made it a grandstand finish when he met Nani's cross to head home from an acute angle. Villa were stunned, while we pressed on for the winner.

It was an action-packed finale as we even threw Smalling on as another striker. But in the end, our away woes continued. We drew another away game, but this one didn't have such a bad taste in our mouths. We showed our mettle, albeit coming only in the final minutes of the game. And that only came after our subsitutes came on. Both Macheda and Obertan were pretty effective after coming on.

Berbatov and Hernandez weren't the only poor ones in the game. Park had an awful time. He was guilty giving the ball on numerous occasions and totally clueless going forward. Nani wasn't any better. He plays exactly like a teammate of mine, who falls at the slightest touch. If it's a genuine injury, it's understandable, but usually it isn't. Nani has a nasty streak of trying to dive for freekicks and get opponents into trouble. It's alot like Ronaldo when he first arrived. Nani needs to stamp that habit out. It's unsportsman-like and very un-United.

That said, it is a good result given the circumstances. I probably wouldn't have liked the result against a depleted Villa team at the start of the game, but considering just how poor we were and how hard we fought with the youngsters in the last 15 or so minutes, I'll gladly take this result and look ahead to the next game. I only have one request....when/if Rooney returns, can we bench Berbatov for good?

Neighbours To Settle Row Another Day

2010-11-11T05:57:00.002+08:00

Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (Brown 49), Evra (O'Shea 69), Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Nani, Berbatov (Hernandez 78)

Don't really see what's so special about City this season. They were playing at home and were so defensive, packing the box. We weren't much better formation-wise, but at least we looked threatening going forward. The second half was probably some of the best football we've played all year, not that it says much considering how generally poor we've been all season.

What was outstanding in this game is that for once we never looked like conceeding. Our defence was super on the ball. I don't think I've seen the players concentrate so hard on the defensive end all year. All the midfielders did their part, coming back when needed, snuffing out the danger from Silva and Tevez. On the other side, the Toures brothers were outstanding.

At the end the negativity of Shitty won the day. At least it looks like we've finally woken up from our slumber and playing the type of football we've come to know and enjoy. We may have lost gound to Chelsea on this night, but if we continue to play this type of football, I'm sure we could give them a run for the money.

Park Wins It For United

2010-11-07T02:16:00.004+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Wolves 1

Scorers

Manchester United: Park (45, 90)

Wolves: Ebanks-Blake (66)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Fletcher, O'Shea (75_, Hargreaves (Bebe 10, Macheda 75), Obertan, Park, Hernandez

My problems with my computer are an on going problem that's hopefully going to end by the end of the following week. Since I'm still writing on borrowed time, I'll try to keep this one short and sweet.

We didn't deserve the points, we really didn't. Yet somehow how Park willed his way to a goal into injury time to win us the 3 points. He scored both our goals at the ends of either half to seal the victory after former United reserve player, Ebanks equalized late in the game.

We're playing some really dreadful football and it's been going on for sometime. The problem largely lies with the midfield. We're playing well until the final third of the pitch where it all breaks down. We simply lack the creativity to crack a stubborn defense and it's hurting us more than Ferguson would like to admit. Without Valencia or Nani, I thought we were fully exposed for what we really are.....a very ordinary side. If not for Park's incredible endeavour, we would have been staring at another draw.

United's Turkish Delight

2010-11-03T05:34:00.003+08:00

Bursaspor 0 - Manchester United 3

Scorers

Manchester United: Fletcher (47), Obertan (73), Bebe (77)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Vidic, Rafael, Evra (Fabio 80), Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher (Bebe 63), Nani (Park 29), Berbatov

Superb result from Turkey, especially given the very blunt lineup we put upfront. We struggled in the first half but eventually the midfield made up the difference. Once we started to get a grip on the midfield, the game came easy and so did the goals.

The introduction of Park in place for the injury to Nani was huge. He provided the industry needed for the midfield engine and unleashed Scholes and Fletcher higher up the midfield.

Carrick also had a brilliant game, doing all the little things, and on a rare occasion was actually instrumental for many of our furores upfront. He also had huge hand in the first goal. His pass opened up the Turkish defence and created a wonderful opportunity for Fletcher to pass the ball across the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net.

Obertan did his confidence wonders, after Park played him in, with a stunning net buster that no keeper in the world could stop.

And Bebe continues to baffle critics with a poachers goal when Scholes played him in. What's worth mentioning is that when Scholes got the ball, everyone in the world expected him to shoot, but only Bebe was prepared for the pass. And of course he took the goal well with the outside of his right foot. Again I'm going to say this: he's raw, pure power and pace, but today he's shown a little more to his game. Towards the end ofthe game, he showed the power and pace aspect of his game, brushing off his defender and running down the right flank to whip in a perfect ball to Berbatov, too bad it resulted in nothing.

Speaking of Berbatov, well, he's back to his old hopeless self. It's terribly disappointing to see how poor Berbatov is. After anointing this year as his year on this blog, he goes on to being the player we've always known him to be the past couple of years. He's shoulders were slumped whenever he loses the ball, and he's beginning to berate his teammates for poor passes, most of which occur with his own inability to go for the ball. It's as if someone pat him so hard on the back after the Liverpool game that his footballing brain was dislodged.

Special mention to Smalling here. The defense on the whole played a superb game. Much of it due to Smalling being a man-mountain and the other part due to Bursaspor's poor finishing. Smalling looks superbly confident. At the rate he's going, Rio's going to have to be worried for his place. He doesn't look like someone for the future, with abit more experience, he looks ready to step in anytime.

2010-10-31T02:39:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 2 - Tottenham 0

Scorers

Manchester United: Vidic (30), Nani (84)

Team: Rio, Vidic, Rafael (Brown 64), Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Park, Nani, Berbatov (Scholes 64), Hernandez (Obertan 87)

Not at all a good game yet again, but what's important is that we kept pace with Chelsea and even more importantly, we kept a clean sheet. It's been a while we actually prevented someone from scoring.

The match however would be remembered for Nani's ungentlemanly goal near the end of regulation time. I was watching with absolutely no commentary, hence am still clueless at this stage how the hell the goal stood.

It happened like this, Nani fell in the penalty area, used his hands to handle the ball thinking he earned a penalty. The referee said otherwise. In this instance I thought a freekick was awarded to Spurs. Yet when Gomes placed the ball, Nani took a swipe and scored. From where I was watching, it really shouldn't have been a goal, however the referee Mark Clattenburg consulted his linesman and awarded a cruel goal to end all of Spurs resistance.

While I think Nani wasn't really at fault, his celebrations for such a controversial goal leaves plenty to be desired. I suppose it shows his true nature. Whatever the case is, I kinda feel sorry for Spurs, but luckily for us, we were already one up at that late stage in the game and the goal would have matter little in the final analysis.

My computer has crashed and I'll be taking a break from blogging until I get a new one. I'm currently using a friend's laptop to work on and it's a pain to type full sentences without the screen jumping off to another page.

Hernandez Rounds Off A Brilliant Week

2010-10-27T04:53:00.004+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Wolves 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Bebe (56), Park (70), Hernandez (90)
Wolves: Elokobi (60), Foley (75)

Team: Amos, Smalling, Evans, Rafael (Neville 74), Brown, Gibson, Carrick, Park (Morrison), Obertan, Bebe (Hernandez 81), Macheda

Scintillating end after a horrible first half. As expected, Ferguson threw out a youthfully looking team against Wolves in the Carling Cup. There a sense of deja vu since we met Wolves around the same period in the same competition en route to lifting the cup. Hopefully with this result it would spell the same outcome this season.

The first half was a bona fide bore-fest in the truest sense of the word. Neither team could string anything together that is even worth a mention. Thankfully the second half was a completely different affair altogether.

Bebe opened the scoring with a fortunate goal. It looked like a cross that went over the line before a Wolves defender cleared it. On the replay it clearly went over the line. No dispute there.

Our lead was short-lived. Wolves responded in frantic fashion and were soon level from a corner, with defender Elokobi heading it home. No one was marking him.

The goal spurred Wolves on and we were lucky to withstand some nervy moments before Park restored order with a deadly strike after Wolves failed to clear their lines. This time to shore up the defence, Ferguson threw on a calcified Gary Neville in place of the attacking-mind Rafael. Brown went into the centre to pair up with Smalling, while Evans, who was shaky in defence all night, went into left-back.

Immediately that proved to be a major mistake. Neville simply does not have the legs left in the game. It only took a minute for him to be exposed as Wolves worked their way to a rare Kevin Foley goal. It was definitely folly on Ferguson's part.

Wolves continued to exploit Neville on the right but were unlucky not to snatch a winner. The footballing gods were definitely on United's side. On a break-away, substitute Hernandez was released by Gibson and he had the confidence to take on his defenders, ignore support on both sides to fire home the winner as time wore out.

Can't exactly say we were deserved winners, but Hernandez definitely deserved it. He was on the pitch for only 10 minutes, but every touch was pure class.

Going give comments on some of the players we rarely see:

Neville - He's been a great servant and captain to the club. He bleeds red and there shouldn't be any doubts about it. But from the last couple of games, I think it's becoming crystal clear that he no longer has the legs to play at the top level. Over the weekend, he was completely exposed by Etherington and today it's the same story with Jarvis. If he gets on the pitch on Saturday against Spurs, Bale will eat him alive. As much as I hate to say this, it's time for the legend to retire gracefully.

Macheda - He needs games and he's not getting it regularly at Old Trafford. And probably because of that, he's not getting any better. Alot of grunt work and nothing really positive to show. Maybe it's time he gets loaned out to horn his skills.

Obertan - Really skilful player but seems to lack the confidence. He took an ill-advised shot from a narrow angle in the second half when centring to an open Macheda seemed like the right choice. I'm sure many would blame him for being selfish, but to me it looked like he didn't even have the confidence to make the pass. The entire game prior to the shot, he was simply not making that final pass. Very disappointing to see him have the same problems as he had while in Bordeaux.

Bebe - After watching a full game, you can understand why he's so highly-rated. He has an incredible work-rate, both going forward and coming back to defend. There were flashes of brilliance but it's going to take a while before we even see some semblance of a football player. As of right now, he's just so damn raw. He's idea of playing on the right flank is to take on his defender, run down the right byline and cross. From the few reserve games I've caught, he does the same on the left wing. It will take a while before he truly understands the game. We need to give him the kind of time we gave Ronaldo and Nani. Remember when they both joined, both were pretty raw and took awhile before they came good. I'm not saying Bebe will reach the same level, but you simply cannot deny the potential. Right now he's way rawer that Ronaldo or Nani when they first joined.

Smalling - Simply the best player out there. Of all the youngsters on show today, he's the most ready to step into the first team. And when I say youngsters, I'm including 'veterans' like Evans and Gibson.

Chicarito Saves United's Blushes

2010-10-24T22:51:00.004+08:00

Stoke City 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Stoke City: Tuncay (80)
Manchester United: Hernandez (27, 86)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville (Brown 46), O'Shea (Carrick 70), Scholes (Obertan 87), Fletcher, Evra, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez

Another week of Rooney headlines and the strange U-turn decision he made to stay with the team after dissing the entire organisation from head to toe. Of course at the end of the day he got what he wanted and is currently reportedly receiving anywhere from 250k to 180k pounds a week. Personally I think it's ridiculous to be paying this crazy money to a so-called superstar who can't find the net, while he's peers, namely Messi and Ronaldo are scoring goals for fun. Thankfully we have Scholes, who did what any decent United fan wanted to do, to injure him in training.

Whatever dog and pony show that was on display over the last week or so, one thing's for sure, it's going to take alot of badge kissing and sucking up to us fans before he even comes close to getting back into our good books. The massive amount of greed and self righteousness is hard to stomach for the ordinary fan. I know I'll be finding it tremendously hard to root for this dick again.

Today in his absence, I think we've found a new hero in the form of the Little Pea. Against the odds, Hernandez snatched a late winner to end our away blues. For a moment there, it looked like we had thrown away another lead when Tuncay cancelled out Hernandez's opener as time wound down. Hernandez was at the right place and the right time to poke home Evra's deflect shot to give us a frankly undeserved winner. It broke the duck and hopefully we move on from here to capture a few more away wins.

Stoke were probably rather unlucky to find themselves one down after dominating most of the first half. Hernandez contorted rather unorthodoxly to flick his head back to score the first goal. It was a thing of beauty, ballerina-like, yet at the same time difficult, almost impossible to produce. The bottomline is that the ball went into the net. We spend the rest of the half defending like crazy as Stoke pressed for the equalizer.

After a pulsating first half, the second half was a non-starter until both Scholes and Evra made mistakes to allow substitute Tuncay to score a brilliant effort. It looked like we had to settle for a point yet again until Hernandez's instinct took over.

Currently at this point in time, I'm hoping the club does the right thing and boot Rooney off sometime in the near future. In Hernandez, I believe we've found a true goal-poacher.

Backs Against The Wall Time

2010-10-21T04:39:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 1 - Bursaspor 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Nani (7)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Obertan 70), Anderson, Nani, Macheda

Should have been a good victory, but the shadow of Rooney's impending departure puts a dampener to the celebrations.

Determined to put our worries about the immediate future aside, Ferguson opted to put up a youthful looking team to A) blood them and to B) show the Old Trafford faithful that our young players can stand on their own on Europe's largest stage.

Well, apart from Nani's screamer in the 7th minute, we really had little to show. On the flip side, the Turkish champions hardly threatened either. Their best chance came in the first half when Vidic slipped, but Rafael recovered his captain's error superbly. Both sides played to a dull finale in the second half. Bursaspor were happy to come away with a one-nil loss, and I suppose we were happy just to win amidst all the furore surrounding a want-away star.

Personally I don't see what the entire fuss is all about. The past two days have been filled with Rooney headline after Rooney headline. It's almost having a life of its own. To make matters worse, we're probably going to have to live with it until Rooney finally leaves, either in January when the transfer window opens or next summer, by which time we'd probably have gotten peanuts for him.

At the end of the day, the most disappointed person at United is probably Ferguson. Having watched his interview, you can tell he's terribly disappointed that he's been unable to turn Rooney's thinking around.

Granted on his day, Rooney is a special player, however he's more of a feast or famine player. When he's on form, he's unstoppable, but as seen throughout his career with us and Everton, when he's off, he goes on long stretches without scoring.

Since he's expressed his desire to bugger off, we really should milk him for whatever we can get, even though the value would no longer be at it's peak. It's all about cutting losses, unless by some miracle Ferguson manages to keep him around. Whichever the case is, I think he's lost alot of ground with the supporters and with bridges burnt, it's never going to be the same. In this aspect, I have alot more respect for someone like Ronaldo. Hell, I'm even growing some grudging respect for Invisible Man and Berbatov.

Hopefully with all the negative news surrounding the club, the players would close ranks and consolidate. With threats coming externally from wealthy clubs and the media, and internally from our owners and Rooney, it's about time to have that siege mentality back, the us-against-the-world attitude back. Time for Ferguson to work his magic again.

Mistake Costs United

2010-10-17T00:21:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 2 - WBA 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (5), Nani (25)
WBA: Evra (og 50), Tchoyi (55)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Anderson (Rooney 72), Carrick (Scholes 72), Giggs (Gibson 42), Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez

I'm utterly speechless. This looked like an easy fixture on paper but somehow we managed to screw it up.

Alot has been happening this week with the Liverpool saga that threatens to be a long drawn soap opera. Even though new owners have take the reins, I'm sure that's not the end of the story. It could trump the latest slew of Korea drama that have been capturing the hearts and minds of most Singaporeans. As a United fan, I would love to rib all my Pool loving mates, but am constantly reminded that over here at United, we're not so far off from our own Korean drama. All it takes is for us not to finish with Champions League football for the wheels to completely come off. And my I remind all the United fans reading here that our fall will be even more spectacular that what we've witnessed over the last couple of years from our most hated rivals. It doesn't make easy reading that despite record revenue last year, we still ended up in the red. Sooner or later, we're going to rue the deep shit we're trying to cover.

With that off my chest, today's the first step towards that reality. Slowly but surely we're heading that direction. The inability to take 3 points could be the difference between Champions League football or it's lesser sister in Europe. While I don't think we'd fall towards no European football next year, but the revenue between the Champions League and that other league should be pretty significant.

Having an eye on the midweek game against the Turkish team, Fergie opted to field a less than satisfactory team. While we looked really good in the first half, we were shambolic in the second.

It couldn't have started any better. Nani's freekick was spilled by Carson and Hernandez, sharp as a fiddle, gleefully poked it home to put us one up. Nani combined well with Berbatov later in the half to score the second. We could have had more....alot more, but Berbatov criminally missed from 6 yards out after Carrick whipped in the perfect ball. It should have been the icing on the cake for a superb first half display, despite resting a number of key players.

Then the horror show started. Giggs picked up an injury and was replaced by an ineffective Gibson. Anderson was pushed to the left where he completely disappeared into the black hole known as the left wing. Not to be outshown by Anderson, Carrick did his own disappearing act. Suddenly we were playing with 9 men.

Then Evra was perhaps a little unlucky to score an own goal that he hardly knew about. The goal gave West Brom a glimmer of hope but that should have been all they had to hang on to. Let's be honest, how many teams come to Old Trafford, get behind by 2 and still manage to claw their way back? If you have an answer to that, I'd like to know. Whatever the case is, you can add West Brom to that number.

If Berbatov's miss in the first half was criminal, then Van der Sar's error was almost unforgivable. He appeared to have his hands on a cross (which incidentally wasn't even struck properly) yet somehow managed to let it slip from his grasp. Tochyi was on hand to pounce on the error and bring West Brom level.

We never recovered from that error. As the game wore on, West Brom looked the more likely team to take all 3 points as they threatened to punish us for throwing bodies forward. In the end, fair play to West Brom. They didn't just sit back to defend the point, but bravely went forward whenever they had the ball to take all 3.

After today's result, I think I need to re-adjust my own expectations. I no longer think we have a shadow of a chance of tipping Chelsea to the title. We might not even end up as runners up. I'm just content to have Champions League football next season, even if it's just to prolong the inevitable collapse the Glazers have saddled us with. I know it's damning, but like it or not, it's a reality that can't be too far away.

Away Struggles Continue

2010-10-03T02:59:00.003+08:00

Sunderland 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, O'Shea, Scholes, Fletcher, Anderson (Bebe 80), Nani, Macheda (Hernandez 65), Owen (Berbatov 46)

Still can't seem to find an away win. Ferguson shuffled the starting lineups again, this time probably to 'reward' the excellent victory at midweek without taking into consideration how poorly we actually performed. And it backfired spectacularly in our faces to leave us waiting for another away fixture to take all 3 points.

And if we're really honest with ourselves, we didn't even deserve one this week. For the entire first half, we were second best. Owen and Macheda were given rare starts and neither did anything worthwhile. So sad was Owen's start that he was replaced by Berbatov by the start of the second. Berbatov has been bringing in the bacon in the Premiership so far this season and I found it strange he was left on the bench for this game. It's not like he's going to be involved with the Bulgarian national team thus would be resting for the next couple of weeks anyway. If anything, we should have milked him while we can in the absence of Rooney.

Scholes was also a surprised inclusion despite reports of an injury which should have taken him out for this game, and Bebe made an absolutely forgettable debut.

After a first half where Sunderland completely dominated, we made inroads in the second with the introduction of Berbatov. Hernandez also replaced the ineffective Anderson later in the game and made solid contributions but to no avail. The game was dominated by both sets of defenders. Having Rio back clearly shored up our leaky defence. Having said that, we still look incredibly vulnerable to crosses.

As the game wore on, we started to get a better feel of Sunderland, but there was too little time to make it count. Had the game gone on for another 15 or so minutes, we could have nicked a winner, but it was not to be. Given just how brutal things were for us in the beginning, I suppose we ought to consider ourselves lucky to come away with a point. It should have been game over even before we started playing significantly better.

We take another international break and hopefully our players will return healthy from their endeavours on the 16th against a relatively easy opponent on paper back at our fortress. I, for one, am not holding my breath.

Chicharito Opens European Account

2010-09-30T04:34:00.003+08:00

Valencia 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Hernandez (85)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (O'Shea 90), Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson (Hernandez 77), Park, Nani, Berbatov (Macheda 85)

Utterly horrible game to watch. Let's be honest, both sides were terrible and really neither side should have had any points, not even for a draw. UEFA should refund the tickets the supporters paid. This game brought about more negatives than positives.

In fact other than a nice goal coming late in the game, there's nothing to write about so I'll go along with some observations, starting with the negatives.

Negatives
- Outside of Scholes, we have no central midfielders. Not going to win anything unless Scholes goes the distance.

- Carrick is utterly rubbish. Everyone who reads this blog knows I already not a very big fan of Carrick and his standing with me is somewhat rock bottom. Yet somehow he went alot lower after today. Granted it's his first game back, it's still hard to cut him some slack with the abysmal first touch he showed today. Not only that, he was guilty of giving the ball away with every other touch. I'd very much rather have Invisible Man back, at least that guy wouldn't/couldn't do much damage.

- We can't defend crosses. Valencia was utterly horrible at the end of crosses, and we benefited from their wastefulness.

- Knew it wouldn't last. Berbatov is back. Sulky, lazy Berbatov is back. At least with him, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and just put it down to him playing up front alone without support. Yet somehow I feel it's not the end of this version of Berbatov I'm going to see this season.

- Alright own up, who took Evra's soul?

- Owen must feel so fucked. After scoring 3 goals last week, he ends up behind Hernandez and Macheda. And because Macheda created the goal that Hernandez scored, no one is really going to notice this. Can't help but feel sorry for Owen.

- Had I known they were going to play this badly, I would have gone to sleep or watched some porn. The only consolation was that we somehow won, just was Valencia was gaining some foothold in the game. To be honest, both teams were just terrible.

Positives
+ Chicharito has a beautiful first touch. Hit a post and scored a goal in a short short period of time he played.

+ Macheda didn't do too badly either. Did well to pass to Hernandez. Showed more life than most of the zombies on the pitch.

+ Nani was immense. Top notch work-rate today. Was everywhere on the pitch and made some crucial blocks, covering Rafael. Was tremendous going forward, but never got the support he deserved. Easily the best player on the pitch by a long long margin.

Still Finding Their Feet Away

2010-09-26T20:54:00.002+08:00

Bolton 2 - Manchester United 2

Scorers

Bolton: Knight (6), Petrov (67)

Manchester: Nani (23), Owen (74)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes, Fletcher (Owen 71), Giggs (Park 53), Nani, Rooney (Macheda 61), Berbatov

Nail biting stuff. I'm just glad we didn't lose. Given that Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs all lost and Liverpool couldn't find their feet at Anfield, it's almost scripted for us to falter. We NEVER take advantage of such opportunities. I'm just glad we took something from the game. A point gained is better than one lost.

Under Owen Coyle, this Bolton team is actually watchable compared to the rubbish that was dished out week in week out under Fat Sam. For once Kevin Davis is not that physical forward you'd hate to play against. He hasn't lost that physical aspect of his game, but there is at least a decent level of finesse to his play now. Same goes for the entire Bolton team. Truly quite entertaining to watch.

It all started badly for us. As mentioned, Bolton are a decent outfit nowadays, and they got into an early lead when Zed Knight scored from a corner. The Reebok used to be a pleasant hunting ground for us in past seasons where we'd hammer them, but without Ronaldo and without Fat Sam, it's turning out to be a different prospect, as we found out today.

It took sometime for us to find our rhythm and when we did, it came thru Nani. He took the ball off Rooney from the centre of the pitch and weaved his way past 5 defenders before taking a low pinpoint shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. It was a scintillating run that was rewarded with a wonderful individual goal, one that even the greasy haired one who left for Spain would have been proud of. Sensational goal by the young Portuguese who is finally having a great season (not going to last for long since I've just jinxed him, like I jinxed the Bulgarian).

We pressed hard for the lead, while having to endure Bolton's quick and inventive counter attacks. Elmander's also having a great season, and should have punished us on a number of occasions.

They eventually did punish us with Petrov's shot deflecting off a hapless Fletcher beyond the flapping Van der Sar. It was a little bitter-sweet for me. While I really enjoyed the way Bolton played the game, I just wished it wasn't against us.

Owen was thrown on and it was he who rescued us when he rose amongst the trees and deftly flicked his header into the net. For the remaining time, we pushed forward for the winner, while putting our backline under pressure from Kevin Davies and company on their counters.

The game ended as a draw and it was probably the best result for 2 teams who went out not only to entertain the crowd, but in a genuine attempt to collect all 3 points. As a United fan, I'm slightly disappointed, yet having to heave a sigh of relief that we only have to visit the Reebok once.

Perhaps a little more disconcerting is that for the 3rd away fixture on the trot, we've conceded at least 2 goals. The rot simply has to stop somewhere. I don't believe I'm going to type this, but I can't wait for Rio to replace Evans. Evans hasn't been performing well under pressure. The experience will do him wonders further down the road, but right now he's just not doing justice to the manager's selection. In short, he's rubbish right now. If Rio's not available, maybe it's time to partner O'Shea with Vidic. Something's gotta change before we continue letting in more goals this season. Already we're way way behind Chelsea and Arsenal in goal difference, and in a tight season like this, it maybe the difference between winning and not winning.

Fringe Players Too Hot For Championship Side

2010-09-23T04:42:00.002+08:00

Scunthorpe 2 - Manchester United 5
Scorers
Scunthorpe: Wright (19), Woolford (90)
Manchester United: Gidson (23), Smalling (36), Owen (49, 71), Park (54)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Smalling, Rafael, Brown, Gibson, Anderson, Park (Bebe 74), Macheda, Hernandez (Obertan 68), Owen

Pretty superb game that had everything, including a streaker....too bad it was a 'he'. As expected, we fielded most of our second teamers. Ferguson was in Spain scouting next week's Valencia game and Mike Phelan took over the reigns for this one, which probably accounted for the relaxed approach the players took to the field.

Right from the whistle, Scunthorpe were the hungrier side and Kuszczak was made to make a number of fingertip saves. Eventually, Scunthorpe went into the lead with a stinging strike from Josh Wright.

The lead somewhat galvanised the team into action. Smalling's long punt was well met by Gibson. He out-sprinted the Scunthorpe defenders and lobbed the ball exquisitely over the keeper from a narrow angle. It was a touch of class and sheer brilliance from the United midfielder.

Smalling got on the end of a cross to put United into the lead in the 36th min with a deft touch to direct the ball into the net.

To be honest, Scunthorpe were the better side in the first half. Kuszczak had a torrid time in goal and our defenders were having a hard time with Scunthorpe's shoot-on-sight policy. All throughout the game, we were unable to close them down, resulting in 19 shots on target. Kuszczak was an incredibly busy man. While he did do well for most of them, he did fumble a number too. Kinda hard to take the Pole's threat to quit the club seriously based on today's performance. Way too uneasy for my liking.

Whatever Mike Phelan did at half time worked. We came out from the locker room a significantly different team. Macheda lead a counter attack and fed Owen, who seems to have regained some of his speed from yesteryear as he raced straight down the throat of the Scunthorpe defence to score United's third.

The fourth came quickly via a mad scramble with Park firing it hard and low into the bottom right corner. Despite Scunthorpe's valiant attempts to make a game out of it, it was United who added a fifth when the keeper spilled Park's thunderbolt, only for Owen to prod it home.

The goal killed off whatever remaining resistance from the home crowd until a streaker decided to take matters into his own hand/leg to entertain the crowd. Sadly the camera could not follow the exploits of the streaker, but Mike Phelan and his counter-part on the Scunthorpe bench had a good giggle over it.

Bebe was subsequently introduced and Scunthorpe found a consolation into injury time. Overall an eventful game and a good workout for the lads who rarely got a game.

Bebe is everything I think he is. Big, powerful, fast but incredibly raw. I caught him in against the Aston Villa reserves a week back and thought he has a pretty good right leg, especially those crosses when he was playing on the right wing. While the crosses were of good quality, he didn't take the time to look up to see if anyone was on the end of them. I suppose the potential is there, but it would probably be a couple of years at the minimum before he finds his 'ball-sense'. 7 million may be a bit rich for now, but it'd be sometime before he realises his potential and then we can fully evaluate.

United Rides On The Red Hot Wings Of Berbatov

2010-09-19T22:41:00.003+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Liverpool 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (42, 60, 84)
Liverpool: Gerrard (pen 64, 70)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes, Fletchers, Giggs (Macheda 82), Nani (Gibson 88), Berbatov (Anderson 88), Rooney

Definitely the year of Berbatov. After a torrid start to his United career, he's finally become the player we paid an obscene amount for. His sensational strikes today brought home the 3 points against a horrible Liverpool side.

We were the better team throughout the entire game, applying sustained pressure on a piss poor Pool side. They are indeed a team in turmoil and rarely looked to threaten. The first half was exclusively United's and when it looked like the half would end in a nil all draw, Berbatov popped up to put United into a deserved lead.

The second half was more of the same and Berbatov doubled his tally with a sensational bicycle kick that sent the Old Trafford faithful into a frenzy. We were all over Liverpool and a route looked on the cards until Howard Webb decided to stamp his influence on the game. He was Liverpool's single most important player, awarding a dubious penalty against Evans, while ignoring our own claims much earlier in the game. Gerrard scored from the spot to pull on back for the Scousers.

Webb, then went on penalise O'Shea for an innocuous challenge on the edge of the penalty area. Once again Gerrard stepped up and whipped the freekick home, drawing level against the run of play.

The last 20 minutes were horrible to watch. Shades of Fulham and Everton were on the cards, and we very nearly added Liverpool to that growing list. After 70 minutes of really superb football, we suddenly displayed a severe lack of confidence and probably would have been happy to see the game end in a stalemate. But Berbatov had other ideas. Refusing to let his two goals go to waste, he lept highest to meet a O'Shea's cross to seal victory for a manager who has shown tremendous faith in him.

While Berbatov was utterly brilliant, there is a worrying trend going on with our team. There is a sudden fallibility at the back that is hard to swallow and even harder to digest given the stingy diet we've been fed on in past seasons. We have been throwing away leads in recent times and that needs to stop if we're to challenge Chelsea for the top spot. As of right now, we're looking alot like Arsenal, playing good football without that steel to see thru it. Hopefully today's game is a step in the right direction for what is a long long season ahead of us.

United's Poor Week Continues

2010-09-15T04:40:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 0 - Rangers 0

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Smalling, Brown, Fabio (Evans 76), Fletcher, Gibson, Park (Owen 76), Valencia (Giggs 63), Hernandez, Rooney

Ferguson took a gamble, changing 10 players from Saturdays incredible melt-down, in part sending a message that for the horrible way we defended and in part to save our best players for the up and coming game against Liverpool.

I wouldn't exactly said his intentions backfired, but it would have been nice to have been able to bring on a Nani or a Berbatov to refresh a very stale looking attack. We were woeful going forward and our only threat was from Gibson's long range efforts. Nothing we did came thru.

To compound matters, we should be looking a long long injury for Valencia who probably broke his leg midway in the second half. The injury was so bad that there were no replays and, with the exception of Rooney, everyone looked away in horror. That being said, Rooney is the kind of guy you'd want in a Dungeon and Dragon party with that incredibly high constitution. At this point in time, we can only hope for the best for Valencia and wish he has a speedy recovery, but in any case, we're also looking at a huge downtime.

Good thing that this is only the start of the group stages of the Champions League and in two weeks time, we'd have a more settled starting 11 to take on Valencia. What's more urgent to me right now is this weekend's game against Liverpool. Granted that they are a fading force, it would still be nice to ram it down their throats to remind them of that fact. Oh and 3 points would be a nice welcome too, especially after the way we're been throwing points.

United Away = Fail

2010-09-11T21:41:00.004+08:00

Everton 3 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Everton: Pienaar (39), Cahill (90), Arteta (90)
Manchester United: Fletcher (43), Vidic (47), Berbatov (66)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Neville, Evra (Park 81), O'Shea, Fletcher, Scholes, Nani, Giggs, Berbatov

I'm so livid! Can't believe we collapsed again. Screw it, I'm so pissed I'm not going to continue this week's post.

Year Of The Berbatov

2010-08-29T02:32:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 3 - West Ham 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 33), Nani (49), Berbatov (70)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans (Smalling 74), O'Shea, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes (Carrick 74), Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov (Owen 74)

Superb performance at Old Trafford today. Scholes and Giggs were simply awesome, and Nani didn't show any side-effects from last week's missed penalty. In fact it was a penalty that decided today's game.

Scholes has been magnificent with his passing this season, and his one of his searching crossfield passes found Giggs facing Spector on his favoured left wing. Turning back the clock, Giggs did his mazy dance and was about to run riot inside the box before Spector clumsily brought him down. The referee had no choice but to award United a penalty.

Desperate for a goal, Rooney stepped up and blasted the ball into the net. From then on, it was one way traffic. The gulf in class was huge and with a goal advantage, the best West Ham could do was to stem the red tide.

The second goal came shortly after the break with a fine individual effort from Nani. He took Rooney's pass and sliced his way through an incredibly porous West Ham defence and smashed home the second goal. It's defending like this that leaves West Ham rooted to the foot of the table, even at this early stage of the season.

That's not to say West Ham was that poor in any way. When they could, the did muster up a number of credible efforts, one of which was a beautiful passing sequence that resulted in Dyer striking the post. But such passing fluency was few and far between.

United on the other hand, were playing some superb football. After some intricate passing, Nani faked a shot and lifted the ball into the path of Berbatov and he volleyed home spectacularly from close range. It was a well deserved goal, especially after a really hardworking performance by the normally lacklustre Bulgarian. In fact, he seems to have pulled up his socks and finally started putting in much more effort into the games he's played and the crowd and teammates seem to have responded as well. It's a vicious cycle sometimes. The harder the player works, the better the response and in turn, he works harder for the adulation.

With the result, we've kept pace with Chelsea and Arsenal, who won their respective games as well. It's vital to keep the distance close while we can fully concentrate without the cup distractions. Last week was an unfortunate loss of 2 points.

Craven Collapse

2010-08-23T00:57:00.002+08:00

Fulham 2 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Fulham: Davies (57), Hangeland (89)
Manchester United: Scholes (11), Hangeland (og 84)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Valencia (Giggs 74), Park (Nani 67), Bebatov, Hernandez (Owen 74)

Sigh, we just can't win at Craven Cottage. I suppose this is a marked improvement from our last 2 visits. This time we took the lead twice, and even with the intervention of Mr OwnGoal, we still couldn't take all three points.

Nani missed a crucial penalty when we were 2-1 up at the 87th minute and all hell broke loose after. To be really fair to Fulham, it was never a penalty to begin with. The ball struck Duff on the arm while he was trying to clear it. It wa a handball, but with absolutely no intent, nor did he even know about it. It's about as harsh a penalty given. Yet given the opportunity to seal the victory for United, Nani fluffed his lines and his penalty was driven away by the outstanding stand-in keeper for Schwarzer, David Stockdale.

On the other end, Hangeland made amends for his own goal and rose the highest to head home the equalizer, robbing us of 2 points. Credit to Fulham, who made a real fight out of it, especially from the way we started this game.

Right from the off, we came out blazing, before Scholes broke the deadlock with his 150th for the club. Berbatov could have had a brace but Stockdale was simply outstanding, making two almost point blank saves.

The game then mired into a bit of to and fro-ing with Fulham causing problems with Zamora really troubling Evand and Vidic. And on the other end, we always looked like scoring.

Fulham's first equalizer came from Simon Davies after some really good play from Duff. Van der Sar would be really disappointed that the ball still managed it's journey into the net after he had a good amount of palm to Davies' strike.

As the game wore into the final third, United started to pile on the pressure. Nani's introduction gave United the extra width and we exploited it to devastating effect, bombarding a stretched Fulham defence with crosses. Nani's 84th corner finally found the breakthru that we were so desperately craving. Hangeland was at the wrong place at the wrong time when the ball struck him and bisected both Davies and Stockdale on the line and into the net.

Then Duff 'handled' the ball and Nani missed the spotkick. Hangeland then scored the equalizer.

It's a bit disappointing to come away with a draw, especially with our rivals smashing their opponents. Then again, they have to visit Craven Cottage. We can only hope that Fulham will show the same amount of tenacity they showed today. But we shouldn't be doubting any team managed by Mark Hughes. Like the man himself, I'm sure Fulham's going to make things difficult for anyone on their day.

Just a couple of comments I wanna make:

Gallas
From my well chronicle hatred of Sol Campbell, this one seems mild to me. Actually there's only apathy for me in this instance. Sol is a different animal altogether. Sol is born and bred Spurs, and he knowingly joined Arsenal having lived in England all his life and knowing the deep resentment between both sets of fans, especially the Spurs fans, who honestly haven't got much to cheer about until recently. Even then, they are the petty sort, just the type of fans you generally love to hate, coz they are so damn knowledgeable too (I should know, I have a Spurs-loving cousin).

Whereas for Gallas, I never really viewed him as an Arsenal player. He never really fit into Arsenal. His teammates hate him. He hates his teammates. Hell, the only reason he signed for Arsenal, besides being deadweight in the Assly Cole deal, was to spike Chelsea. Total dick in my opinion, but a totally different dick from Sol.

Goals
Wtf? Has the Premiership gone goal crazy? More importantly even at this early stage, can anyone stop Chelsea? Granted their opponents are relegation fodder, still 6 goals twice is nothing to sneeze at. Then there's six for Arsenal and more inexplicably 6 for Newcastle, a team we comprehensively beat last week. And more astonishingly, they did it against Villa! These couple of weeks are pretty weird. Wonder when our turn in the sun will happen.

We Missed Newcastle

2010-08-17T04:57:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 3 - Newcastle 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (32), Fletcher (41), Giggs (85)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra (Rafael 87), Fletcher, Scholes, Nani (Giggs 70), Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney (Hernandez 62)

Glad to have Newcastle back in the Premiership. We sorely missed this hopeless bunch. Could have been a different story last season had we had this sorry group to play against. Well, it's a new season and new aspirations to aim for. And for once we didn't fuck up the opener.

Nothing much to say about this game. We controlled practically every aspect of the game right from the kickoff till the final whistle. Barring a couple of scares, none of which looked really threatening, it was as comfortable as it could get. At times, our biggest enemy on the pitch were ourselves. We spent too much time passing the ball around instead of breaking Newcastle down. For brief moments in the game in the second half, it almost looked as if we were too bored being 2-0 up and decided to murk around trying to add some spice for the capacity crowd. But Newcastle were not buying into it. They stuck to being hopeless and boring. Someone else with more adventure would have made thing more interesting.

Just a couple of things to add:

- Berbatov looks very much like finally justifying that ridiculous transfer fee. He had a pretty good game and probably should have been more selfish, but after scoring the opener, he was trying to set everyone up. Get the feeling this could finally be the year Berbatov sets the stage alight. From the goal celebrations last week and tonight, you could tell that the entire team is rooting for him too.

- Rooney seems out of sorts. Really not at his sharpest. I'm just worried that a poor World Cup campaign could have played into his psyche. Let's hope he snaps out of his funk soon.

- Evra started today, which was pretty incredible. Having been out the entire pre-season, Fergie opted to start him. Didn't do too badly, but didn't light up the stage either. I'm just surprised he got picked to start after a no-show at pre-season.

- What can you say about that man Scholes? Best player on the pitch by a wide wide margin. His tackling is still his achilles heel, but his passing is out of this world. I was surprised and yet glad that Fergie played him the full 90 mins. You would expect that at 2-0 up, you'd be resting those old legs as much as possible. Nevertheless, another great great performance by Scholes.

United Draws First Blood

2010-08-09T05:49:00.003+08:00

Chelsea 1 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Chelsea: Kalou (83)
Manchester United: Valencia (41), Hernandez (76), Berbatov (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Fabio (Smalling 71), O'Shea, Scholes (Fletcher 79), Carrick (Giggs 79), Park (Nani 46), Valencia, Rooney (Berbatov 46), Owen (Hernandez 46)

Life is good. We did well, really well, to take the game to a Chelsea side that looked completely out of sorts. With the exception of Essien, Chelsea looked jaded and at times, rather mundane. If today's game is any indication of the season to come, we look like genuine title contenders. As Kentona mentioned while we were watching the game, it looks like we have two first teams, with equal cover in every single position.

Both teams started the game with attacking flair and either side could have taken the lead. But it was United who drew first blood with a fine combination of Scholes and Rooney, finding Valencia alone and unmarked to fire home. Scholes pass was utterly exquisite he seems to have found a new dimension to his game. We all know Scholes is good when he's not tackling, but from the game's I've seem so far, he seems to have brought it to a higher level. The question is if he can keep it up for the entire season. Both in preseason and today's game, Scholes has been our top performer so far.

Wholesale changes were made at the start of the second half and United's entire strikeforce was replaced. Berbatov seems to link well upfront with Chicharito. His little flicks and Chicarito's runs behind the backline of Chelsea's seemed to be giving the defenders a harder time than expected.

The game was played at the right spirit with neither team parking the bus and both willing to throw men forward. Eventually it was United who scored again. This time Valencia was the provider and Chicharito opened his United account with a goal that was truely comical. His shot ricochetted off his face and into the net. It didn't matter to the lad nor everyone in the team. I'm pretty sure it's the first of many in his United career. At some point in the distant future, we're all going to remember his first United goal, much like the way we always remember Ole's first against Blackburn.

To Chelsea's credit, they came back strong and pulled one back with Kalou. Their onslaught to find the equalizer eventually left them exposed and Berbatov finished them off with a delightful lob. It was an immensely entertaining game and we signalled our intent to carry the fight to the champions.

Every season, I can't help but be bearish over the team's chances, but this season looks and feels different. For once in a long long time, I actually think we have a really good chance of taking the Premiership title back. Chelsea is our main rival, and I don't really rate the rest of the chasing pack. City looks good on paper, but the title isn't won on paper. They have too many new plays and a manager who does seem clueless. As we've seen with Chelsea's rise, it takes a few seasons before the team finds the maturity and chemistry wrestle control for the big boys.

Wenger is a brilliant manager, someone I rate as highly as our own SAR. But Arsenal is Arsenal. You just get the feeling at some point in the season, their lack of depth/funds is going to haunt them like the previous seasons.

Liverpool is the dark horse here. Hodgeson is no pushover but their inability to bring in new blood to replace the junk they inherited from my all time favourite manager, Benitez, will hamper their chances. Yet they are the dark horses for a reason. A change in regime, and an influx of funds could change their season completely. With a manager at the helm who knows the English game, Pool could be a force to reckon with.

Everyone else, ie Everton, Spurs and Villa, are simply not good nor deep enough. There is still a gap in talented personale between them and the top 5.

Damn it, I think I've just convinced myself to place a bet on us to win it all.

United Scores Seven In Exhibition Game

2010-08-05T04:40:00.002+08:00

Airtricity League XI 1 - Manchester United 7

Scorers
Manchester United: Park (13, 63), Owen (25), Hernandez (47), Valencia (60), Evans (69), Nani (pen 82)

We welcomed back a host of players who were in South Africa. Rooney, Valencia, Park, Vidic and Carrick all returned after their extended break to start in an exhibition game against the Irish league's own version of 'Allstars'. Owen, seemingly, fully fit, was also given a runout.

Despite the poor competition provided, there were alot of encouraging signs. Valencia is pretty awesome, as was Park. They dominated their respective flanks. I was rather surprised at how sharp Park is in front of goal.

The more I see Smalling, the better he gets. He seems to be growing in confidence with more games under his belt. Today he looked superb paired with the ever-present Vidic.

I paid special attention to Hernandez and I gotta say he looks like a gem. Besides his pace and scoring prowess, I was mightily impressed with his range of passing. There were a couple of Scholes-like long passes that were pretty accurate. His off-the-ball movement was fantastic, not to mention the timing in making those darting runs. Of course all these observations are made in pre-season games. The litmus test is when he faces the physical defenders opponents will throw at him in real games. So far he's been very sharp and very impressive.

And what's the deal with Evra? With all the regulars back in the fold, Evra was missing from the party. As far as I know, he's not injured. It would seem he's being punished for his extra activities in the whole France fiasco. Or maybe he's just been given a longer break than the rest. Let's hope he gets some games before the season starts.

United Rounds Up Tour With A Loss

2010-07-31T12:29:00.002+08:00

Chivas de Guadalajara 3 - Manchester United 2

Am down with a pretty bad flu, so will try to make this as brief as humanly possible. If the last game's atmosphere was good, this one blew it out of the water. The atmosphere was simply superb. There was a parade before the game to open the new stadium and the fans were all given either a red or white t-shirt in Chivas' home colours. It resulted in an explosion of red and white in the stadium, a feast for the eyes.

As for the game itself, Chivas was clearly the better team. Chicharito played in their colours in the first half and he scored a brilliant volley to open the scoring. Smalling levelled the scores almost immediately thru a corner, but Chivas closed the stronger team in the half and went into the lead with a well-deserved goal, albeit miles offside.

In the second half, Hernandez switched jerseys but was no where near as effective. We were hardly able to find him the ball. In truth we were pretty woeful at creating chances throughout the game. It wasn't a surprise that Chivas found the net again, before Nani pulled one back to make the scoreline respectable.

The results in this preseason tour is no where near what or how we would perform when the season starts proper. A whole host of players will be returning from their World Cup exertions, and preseason is going to start proper back in England.

However from this tour, we get a good gauge of the youngsters in the team. While most of them are as we expected, some probably have exceeded our expectation, there are a couple that have me worried. Players like Diouf and Rafael seemed to have played themselves out of the team. Ok, Rafael isn't that bad, but I can't possibly see how Diouf is going to fight for a place in the team. With the addition of Hernandez, and the upcoming talents of Welbeck and Macheda, I simply cannot see Diouf breaking into the team. Berbatov, Rooney and Owen are far too established, while the 3 young ones are just more talented. Diouf definitely has to be the first casualty of this tour.

United Thrashes MLS Allstars

2010-07-29T10:43:00.003+08:00

MLS Allstars 2 - Manchester United 5

As expected, there was a carnival atmosphere with the crowds packing in. And in the first minute, the MLS allstars gave Macheda a gift he gleefully accepted. The opener was well taken. Before the Allstars could get into gear, Macheda struck again with a centre forward's header from a corner. Fletcher could have made it 3 before half time, but his effort shook the crossbar.

A slew of substitutions in the second half galvanized the Allstars and after a few close brushes, pulled one back with Brian Ching's header. It didn't look good for United. Fergie sent on Chicharito for his debut. Hernandez got fouled in a dangerous position and Gibson hammered home the jambulani, slamming the door firmly shut in the faces of the Allstars.

Cleverley cleverly danced his way into the box and added the fourth (always wanted to write that). And Chicharito lobbed the keeper for United's fifth. The Allstars were outplayed by our kids most of the game and only in the dying minutes managed to take hold of the game but it was too little too late. They did however get another goal.

All in all, I was pleased with the way we played today. Especially pleased for Macheda and Rafael. In all honesty, both had a terrible preseason todate, but they managed to redeem themselves in a huge huge way with their performances.

Cleverley was fantastic too. He came on for Obertan who left the field injured in the middle of the first half. He was mainly anonymous until his absolutely brilliant goal. But after the goal, he just grew in stature and was probably the best player on the pitch by a far margin in the last 20 or so minutes. I think his problem in the initial preseason games is confidence. But once that goal went in, he just began to feel at ease and let his feet do the talking, the walking and the dancing. If he can keep that level of confidence, my word, he's going to be a player. To think I was almost writing him off. I supposed the problem with all these young players, as I've mentioned before, is consistency.

Lastly, Chicharito is brilliant. I'm really excited to see him play when the season starts. He's speedy Gonzalez wrapped in taco-flavoured kissed. The only foreseeable problem is how he's going to cope with the physical nature of the EPL.

Watching the youngsters play to their potential and more importantly, in the right spirit, albeit for one game, lifts my spirits for the upcoming season.

These MLS Teams Are Good!

2010-07-26T08:03:00.003+08:00

Kansas City Wizards 2 - Manchester United 1

The title says it all. The result is a little bit disappointing, but take nothing away from the Wizards. It's a huge victory for them, especially having to deal with 10 men for the entire second half.

As with the previous couple of games, we started with a youthful backline and they were given a torrid time against a very physical and fit Wizards team. Rafael and De Laet were given the run around the entire first half. Evans and Smalling did better but couldn't prevent both the Wizards goals.

Wizards opened the scoring early after beating the offside trap. They then got into abit of a bother when defender Conrad got his marching orders for a foul on Berbatov in the box. Berbatov equalized from the spot but Wizards went back into the lead before our celebrations were over.

We couldn't prise open the Wizards defense in the second half despite having the lion's share of the possession. All in all, we didn't have a good game, but once again Wizards impressed me, and we're not even talking about a top MLS team.

Our next game is on Thursday against the MLS Allstars. I expect a much easier game. These last two games had a very competitive feel to them, with both teams in mid-season form and playing for pride. Thursday game will have an exhibition feel towards it, and it may work to our favour with so many youngsters in the team.

Personally, I can't wait for all the remaining players return. From what I've seen so far, this is not the 95-96 season. This current crop of youngster are good, but not that good, partly due to the fact that most of the teams in the EPL have improved by leaps and bounds since then. Secondly, most of our play so far involving our youngsters has been rather immature. That group of Scholes, Butt, Becks and the Neville brothers had veteran heads on their then young shoulders.

And on a ending note, Carrick would look sweet on the Kansas City Wizards. Plenty of opportunities to don his superman costume. Wonder if they can afford him....