United Wildens Gap On Top

Manchester United 2 - Everton 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Giggs (12), Van Persie (45)

Team: De Gea, Vidic, Evans (Smalling 81), Rafael, Evra, Cleverley, Jones (Carrick 56), Giggs, Valencia, Rooney, Van Persie

We took advantage of Shitty's slip up and pushed the gap at the top to 12 points at the top. While I'm quitely optimistic of the title, I constantly remind myself that a mere 10 months ago, we let an 8 point gap slip with 6 games to go. Nothing can be taken for granted and until it is a proven mathematical impossibility for Shitty to catch up, then can the real celebrations start.

After the painful lessons of last season, the lads were taking nothing for granted and produced a fine first half of clinical finishing and a finer second half of steel and determination to keep a rare clean sheet. Not even a mouthwatering game in midweek against one of Europe's most decorated clubs, Real Madrid, could distract the lads from doing what was the immediate task ahead.

Giggs took first blood and maintained his record of scoring in every single Premier League season with a precision strike that came off the post after good work from Van Persie. Everton rarely mounted a decisive attack in the half and were further punished what Rafael set Van Persie loose to run the keeper and score.

What United showed in attacking class in the first half was replicated with equally hard steel in defence in the second. Knowing that Everton is built with the same determined never-say-die attitude, United stifled the midfield and reduced the Toffees attacking verve. Bodies were thrown in the way and balls were cleared with increased frequency. Carrick, who came on in place of Jones in the second half, was possibly one of the better performers. It was one of the rare times Carrick actually put on his Superman suit and excelled.

Eventually we put out the Everton fire and desire and cruised to a 2-0 victory, at the same time tightening the noose on Shitty's title challenge.

Draw Opens The Title Race Wide Open

Manchester United 4 - Everton 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (41, 69), Welbeck (57), Nani (60)
Everton: Jelavic (33, 83), Fellaini (67), Pienaar (85)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Jones 86), Nani, Valencia (Hernandez 89), Rooney, Welbeck

What a game and what a truly terrible result. Suddenly the title race is blown wide open. Unless Shitty somehow screws up against bottom of table Wolves in an hours time, this title race is going down the wire.

We couldn't have asked for a worst opponent. Everton came to Old Trafford, licking their wounds off a terrible result over the previous weekend, and as Ferguson mentioned pre-match, were a wounded animal. True to his words, they opened the scoring with a superb goal by Jelavic. The goal set up a truly exciting encounter filled with superb goals.

We bit back with Rooney's header as the game drew into the half.

The game opened up in the second half and for good periods of time we were playing as well as Barcelona. Welbeck's wonder individual goal took us into the lead and moment's later, his individual effort was topped by a cutting edge team effort. We tore the Everton defense to shreds with some sublimed passing, with Nani finishing off the move with a goal, flicked over the on rushing Howard.

3-1 up and the points seemed wrapped up. Everton, however, never laid down. They came with renewed vigour and Fellaini volleyed home a superb effort to bring the scores closer.

Over on the other end, Rooney and Welbeck combined to produce another good finish that should have really been the nail to Everton's little revival. Yet somehow Phil Neville rallied the troops and Everton came forward again, this time Jelavic and Pienaar scored twice within 3 minutes to level the score against everyone's expectations.

In the last ten minutes, including a generous amount of injury time, we threw the kitchen sink at Everton, but between their defenders and Howard, they held firm and both teams had to share the points.

Despite an overall exciting game, especially in the second half, it was a disappointing result for us. We saw a couple of two goal leads slip, and more importantly, we saw the title slowly but surely slipping from our finger tips. This game possibly epitomises our entire season. We started off on the backfoot and slowly clawed our way into the game, and towards the end, we let slip generous cushions and ultimately had to share the spoils. Only in this case, sharing the spoils works in our disadvantage due to an inferior goal difference.

In the words of Kentona, who I had the misfortune of watching the game with, either way, it works for us. If we win the title, it's a bonus after all the trials and tribulations we've been thru this season. And if we don't, it's finally time for the higher management to finally realise that we've been pretty much crap, and hopefully, if the purse-strings allow, will usher in a new era of players.

In any case, attacking like Barcelona and defending like Wolves is simply not going to win us the title. On to the title defense next Monday against Shitty.

2 Wins Away

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.

United Away = Fail

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.

Jaded

Everton 3 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Everton: Bilyaletdinov (19), Gosling (76), Rodwell (90)
Manchester United: Berbatov (16)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Neville, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Park (Obertan 66), Valencia (Owen 80), Barbatov (Scholes 66), Rooney

Terrible result, but considering just how jaded we looked, you can be thankful that we didn't lose by a larger margin. We were second best on the pitch for practically the entire game. Everton was just hungrier, as simple as that.

We didn't have the brightest start but yet took the lead thru Berbatov who reacted the fastest to a deflected Valencia cross from the right. Yet almost immediately, Bilyaletdinov levelled the score with a wonder strike that left Van der Sar stranded.

The match at midweek against Milan took it's toil on our players. Ferguson probably did his best to rotate the squad, but you could tell our key players like Rooney, Fletcher, Evans and Evra probably looked exhausted. The normal energy level was severely lacking and it was a matter of time before Everton took the initiative.

Midway thru the second half, I was commenting to Kentona that we'd be lucky to come away with a point. Everton were just the better team, and looked more dangerous. Their counters had more purpose and more direct, compared to our laboured effort just to break their backline. It wasn't that we didn't try, we just weren't up to the task. Our normal movement in the box was lacking. Partly due to Berbatov's lack of effort, partly due to Carrick having one of those games where he decides to be Mr Invisible. Fletcher and Rooney were doing double time and towards the last third of the game, they looked visibly knackered.

As a result, Gosling scored from a quick counter and Rodwell iced it for Everton in the dying minutes to seal an unlikely but well-deserved victory for the Toffeemen.

It's hard to blame the men in red on such a day. Just in my previous post, I was worrying about the lack of rest for our players and today, it's come to fruitation. Too many games in too short a period, and to make matters worse, we just didn't have to quality to rely on from the bench. At the time of writing this, Chelsea is already 2 up against Wolves and look likely victors.

Things are going to get alittle worse for us as we have another game coming up on Tuesday against West Ham, followed by the mickey mouse cup final against Villa at the weekend. Thick and fast, that's how our schedule looks. We can't afford to lose more ground, yet at the same time, we need to find time to rest our key players to prevent anther game like this from happening. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not Ferguson. While he's probably having headaches finding a solution, I'm having migraines just thinking of it.

Midfield Masterclass

Manchester United 3 - Everton 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Fletcher (35), Carrick (67), Valencia (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Brown, Rafael (Scholes 63), Evra, Fletcher, Carrick (Gibson 83), Valencia, Giggs, Rooney (Obertan 74), Owen

We never lie down. After the defeat against Chelsea, ranks seem to have closed and we responded with a masterclass in midfield. Fletcher was the general pulling the strings throughout the game. And when Carrick has a superb game like today, you know that we've been at our brilliant best.

Right from the word 'go', Everton were never in the game. The centre pairing of Fletcher and Carrick controlled every bit of the pitch. Owen and Rooney created havoc in the Everton defense with switching positions and confusing their markers.

Despite that, the Everton defense was resolute and the first goal took quite sometime to come. It was worth the wait. Evra's cross to the back post was headed back into the centre of the penalty box by Valencia. Fletcher was on hand to connect sweetly and volley in an unstoppable cannon into the top corner of the goal. It was a stunner in every sense of the word. Possibly one of the finest goals we've seen this season.

Everton was surprisingly poor today. They did have a short spell of good play in the beginning of the second half but it was shortlived. Carrick found the net after Giggs' brilliant pass, giving us a 2 goal advantage.

Valencia got onto the act as well when his shot deflected off Baines to round off the scoring. There probably could have been more goals in our favour, but we the foot off the accelerator, saving ourselves for the Champions League game in midweek.

We may not have gained any ground against the leader Chelsea, but there is plenty to be positive with today's performance. Evra and Fletcher probably had their best games this season. Carrick actually looks like a player. And this Obertan fellow is really quite impressive.

The Chelsea game possibly lit a fire up our asses. If we play with such aggression and determination the rest of the way, there really could be a chance, albeit a small chance, to retain the title.

Record Breaking Wind

Manchester United 1 - Everton 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Ronaldo (pen 44)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville (Brown 50), O'Shea, Fletcher (Giggs 75), Carrick, Park, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez

Man, I'm sorry for doing this so late. Got invited to the Chingay parade last night by Kentona and was completely knackered after watching the United game, which we had to rush back to catch. In case anyone is wondering, the Chingay parade, despite it's gay-sounding name, is not some gay pride parade with little Chinese dudes prancing around in pink leotards. It's actually an annual street parade with cool looking floats, and this year's was pretty good with foreign acts, firecrackers and a short but really sweet fireworks display. The only downside was the finale, where a magician set himself on fire only to disappoint the crowd by appearing on top of the city hall.

After the parade was when the gay party really started. The roads were closed for a street party and I can't understand the fascination with this whole hip hop culture. It's angry, rude and so wannabe. The awkward gyrating of ugly young mugs to the sound of ear piercing noise gave my stomach the runs. After breaking wind the entire night (hence the title) and deciding that the scene was too gay for me, we returned back to our normal haunt to catch the game.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at just how good we were today. With the exception of Neville who was played for the fool the entire time he was on the pitch, everyone else was pretty good.

Fergie must have installed a phonebooth in the locker room. Carrick was, once again, outstanding. It's rare that Carrick has an exceptional game, and even more so when he has 2 in a row. Partnering Fletcher in midfield seems to have cast away the shackles. He was more involved with the front players and occasionally had the opportunity to get into good positions.

One such opportunity resulted in Arteta tripping him and a penalty awarded. Ronaldo sent the ball into the net, and United in front. It was nothing more than United deserved.

We did create chances throughtout the game and even had an ironclad penalty denied when Carrick was once again fouled in the box.

Everton created little and were reduced to long range shots which Van der Sar collected comfortably. They probably weren't too bothered with the result, probably saving their legs for the next game.

We ended the game 1-0 winners and a record 12th clean sheet in a row. Personally the record means little if we do not retain the title. But judging at how that Spanish fellow over at Merseyside is throwing games, I'd say we have a good chance of doing so. All that needs to happen is for Chelsea and Liverpool to lose more ground with a dull draw tonight.

United Held By Ferguson

Everton 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Everton: Fellaini (63)
Manchester United: Fletcher (21)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Fletcher (Tevez 78), Giggs, Park (Anderson 67), Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani 71), Berbatov

Stupid computer chose today to go down on me that's why I'm up at 3 freaking am, typing this. Good thing it's not something a good hard kick can't fix.

This was just an incredibly frustrating game to watch. I was literally foaming at the mouth by the end of the second half. There were so many stupid stupid decisions taken in the game that it's really mindboggling what goes on in Ferguson's mind when the match is being played.

We comprehensively dominated the first half and really should have put a miserable looking Everton to the sword. Giggs and Fletcher were outstanding, and it wasn't really much of a surprise that the two combined for the opener.

Giggs' thru ball was controlled expertly by Fletcher and his shot found the back of the net in the 21st minute. There was a touch of class and plenty to be admired in the way it was scored.

Everything was going our way and we really should have made the result beyond doubt. But the ball is round and it doesn't always go our way. That's really fine, and I wasn't complaining at that point. We were leading going into the half and it's been a stroll in the park so far.

'So far' were the key words. Everton came storming back in the second half. They got physical and we couldn't cope. Fletcher was literally overworked, doing the job of all four midfielders. Park and Giggs were outmuscled and Ronaldo was just shameful. He took every opportunity to dive, pout and whine. It seems like good Ronaldo is gone and we have to put up with this arsehole until he realises he's not bigger than the team or until Real Madrid grow some balls and actually pay some decent dough.

I was practically screaming at the wide screen TV in the coffeshop for a substitution. It was obvious after just only 10 minutes into the second half, things were falling apart, and falling apart fast!

Phil Neville then lost alot of my goodwill when he threatened to turn the game on its head by lunging in wildly at Ronaldo. True, it was a bad challenge but it didn't deserve the performance by Ronaldo, wringing on the ground as if he was shot by a sniper. And he wasn't even doing it right. I have a football mate who does it perfectly, maybe I should introduce them. Just awfully despicable of Ronaldo to try to make more of what it actually was. Both set of players came together and angry words were exchanged. Thankfully common sense prevailed and it stopped at that.

Everton took the lead shortly after. Phil Neville's cross was met by Fellaini and Everton equalized.

Everton almost took the lead a couple of times when Brown, Rio and Vidic played like nervous school girls going for their first prom. Rio and Brown gave the ball away in dangerous positions and if not for Van der Sar, we would have returned empty-handed instead of the solitary point.

Ferguson's decision making was pathetic. It was clear the direction the game was going and changes should and could have been made earlier instead of responding and reacting to what has already happened on the pitch. He brough on Anderson in response to the equalizer but didn't remove Giggs from the game. Giggs was practically a pedestrian. Whenever he got the ball, we were moving one step forward and two steps back.

Rooney then tried his hand at crowd control when he started kissing the United crest on his chest. Just quite what he was trying to achieve, besides inciting a riot, was totally beyond me. Totally stupid. If there was one thing Ferguson did right today, it was removing Rooney from the game immediately, before WWIII broke out.

As time started to whittle away, Tevez was brought on too late. What has Tevez done to get into Ferguson's doghouse is again beyond me. He should've at least been on at the same time with Anderson to have some impact.

All in all, this was a game we should have won comfortably. Instead of being proactive, we became reactive, and that resulted in a poor draw. The problem stemmed from management down to the players.

And Ronaldo needs to sit. He's getting too big for his boots.

Ronaldo Snatches A Lucky Win (Manchester United 2 - Everton 1)

Looks like Everton's dismal record against us will have to continue to the next campaign. Visiting OT on the back of a 13 game unbeaten run, this was probably Everton's best chance of taking a victory away in 15 yrs.

Taking the cue from Bolton's victory a month back, Everton came into the game with a robust presence, with the full intent to bully us into submission. Everton's hopes must have been heightened when Edwin Van der Sar (possibly dropped for his performance at Anfield), Rio (possibly dropped for his disgraceful part in the midweek Christmas celebrations) and Hargreaves (probably just rested) were missing completely from the teamsheet.

I missed the first 20 minutes of the game buying food for our own mini Christmas celebrations at Cow's place. The 'party' was a tame affair and the guys and I could really have used a Rio in our midst, even though the WAGs were present.

Thankfully, the presents were not opened during my absence. As soon as I arrived, the opening goal was scored from a pretty good individual effort from Ronaldo. It was a shot from outside the penalty area that left Tim Howard flapping.

Everton hit back barely 5 minutes later with a Tim Cahill header. United's defense just wasn't good enough to keep the lead.

Much of the game was played in Everton's half thereafter without much headway. In truth, Everton defended stoutly and looked good for a draw.

Just when it looked like a draw with Everton packing numbers in the defense and United failing to create clear cut chances, Steve Pienaar decided to send a gift our way. In the spirit of giving, he tripped Giggs in the area with 2 minutes remaining, leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. It was harsh on Everton, who I felt really deserved a point, given the way they fought today. To add injury to insult, Giggs was going absolutely nowhere with the ball.

Ronaldo stepped up and clinically put the ball into the net, grabbing all three points. The honest truth was that this was a lucky victory against a quality side. Irregardless, I'm not complaining about the win. We need all the help we can get to catch Arsenal.

A couple of game notes:

• Anderson's surprised me this season. He's been superb. He's caught up to the English game faster than many have predicted and is quite possibly one of the best midfielders playing in the country right now. And he's only 19! However, if there is one down side to his game is the flashing of imaginary yellow cards to the opponents. I'm glad Howard Webb booked him for ungentlemanly conduct in today's game.
• O'Shea needs a shot of confidence in the worst way possible. When he came on for Danny Simpson in right back after half time, he kept giving the ball away. Luckily Everton had already set up stall to defend or the consequences could have been dire.
• Is it just me? Evra can't jump. Don't get me wrong, Evra's been brilliant this season. I know I have a history of ragging on him relentlessly, but since Heinze's betrayal, I've taken him as one of my binkies. His defence is still somewhat dodgy, but he makes it up with a huge dose of heart. Not to mention he's been great doubling up as a second left winger. However he still seems to get out-jumped by any and everyone. Cahill's goal was a prime example of Evra getting out-jumped again. It's really getting quite embarassing for a man of African descent.
  

United Grinds Out Another Win (Everton 0 - Manchester United 1)

Alex Ferguson doesn't like early kickoffs and neither do I. Early kickoffs on Saturdays usually means that I would miss the match since it usually coincides with a bit of time I share with my girlfriend. It's usually the only time of the week we get to take time off our schedules and meet for a nice dinner, before rushing back home to catch United play.

Since knowing about the schedules 2 weeks ago, I hatched upon a plan and knowing that Kentona would be facing the same dilemma, we arranged to go prawn fishing as a couples outing. Both our gfs like prawn fishing and both of us love United. It also helps alot that the pub beside the fishing pond was showing the game live. While the ladies were occupied exercising their patience, we would be seated comfortably in front of the projection TV watching the game. Brilliant plan of keeping the ladies happy, as well as satisfying our needs.

Now that I've almost sprained my shoulders patting myself on the back, let's get to the game proper.

I was terribly disappointed that Ferguson opted to start Giggs upfront along side Tevez. To me that seemed like a recipe for disaster. I really thought that Saha would have been a better complement for Tevez. For the entire first half, we did absolutely nothing as an offensive force. In fact until the goal, we never threatened the Everton goal.

The return of Ronaldo from suspension did nothing to booster our attack. Sure there were times we did look really good going forward, but the end product severely lacked substance. The first half was so dull that the only moments that stirred the emotions were when Scholes did look like he was going to get a red for a couple of mistimed challenges and when Silves injured himself. It did look like a pretty painful injury when his knee buckled under his own weight....and I'm speaking from experience, having my own knee give way under my own imposing weight. Silves was replaced with Nani and Evra, who was doing pretty damn well playing in left wing, was pushed back to defence.

The second half was more of the same crap from both sides and the game looked like heading for a scoreless draw. On the hour mark, Ferguson must have heard both mine and Kentona's rants and replaced the ineffective Giggs with Saha. Honestly, it didn't make much of a difference to the level of play, although I certainly felt much better having a striker on the pitch.

As the game wore on, Everton looked like the side that were increasingly able to take the points, while we were continually frustrated every time the ball reached the last third of the pitch.

In the 83rd minute, we won a corner. Suddenly remembering that we scored from one two weeks ago against Keano's men, I turned to Kentona and told him that we were going to score. It was totally against the flow of the conversation we were having since we spent most of the time bitching about the quality of the game.....or the lack of it.

Up rose the majestic Vidic to head the ball home. It was a brilliant header! He ran past two defenders and stuck his head to the ball, beating the Everton keeper in the near post. An absolute stunner!

The entire pub must have been filled with ABUs coz the only two people celebrating were Kentona and myself. Fancy being a pub with dozens of beer drinkers, and the two insane people prancing around were a couple of guys drinking Coca-Cola!

The is our third consecutive 1-0 victory and it brought us to the top of the table, if only for a mere 45 minutes. We need to do better and play better. There were many moments in this game where it things could have gone terribly wrong. For long periods in the second half, I felt we rode our luck. But in the end, we ground out a result.

I'm sure I'd be crucified by saying this, but Ferguson needs to stop playing favourites. Giggs has been a wonderful employee and one of the most loyal players, but he needs to either play on the wings or be benched. There is simply no place for him upfront when Saha's fit. There were many moments in the game when I cringed whenever Giggs got the ball. I only hope that Ferguson was saving TissueMan (Saha) for Sporting this midweek in the Champion's League.

Speaking of Sporting, let's hope we get the results in Portugal, especially with our current form. We're pretty poor travellers in Europe and a last few seasons are a testament to that statement.

Old Boys Help United Zero in on Title (Everton 2 - Manchester United 4)

This is the stuff made for legends. 2 goals down and a thrilling comeback served up a sweet taste of toffee at Goodison Park.

Speaking of legends, there was a minute's silence to mark the passing of World Cup legend Alan Ball, which was immaculately kept before the start of the game.

Everton started both halves with early goals as United struggled to find their passing game. Despite the injuries faced during the run in and a relentless persue by Chelsea, fatigue is fast becoming our greatest enemy. Our play was sloppy and we failed to make that final pass when it mattered. The players looked like they were wearing weights on their feet for most of the first half.

On the 12th minute, Alan Stubbs thundered a freekick home, albeit with a telling deflection from the unlucky Carrick. It wasn't as if we weren't warned, as Lescott had hit the crossbar from a corner minutes earlier.

Our response was almost non-existent. Although we did dominate the first half, the final pass was always lacking. The Everton defence was sordid and did not allow an inch of space to the invaders in Red.

The second half started disasterously as Manuel Fernandes scored a stunning goal which Van der Sar could only flap at. In all honestly, the strike was so damn good, no keeper in the world could have saved it. 2-0 down and things were not looking good at all. Making matters worse was that Chelsea was leading in their own game against Bolton. Things were indeed looking glim for the men from Manchester. I'm glad I don't own a pet.

Our meek response was to take off the ineffective Evra, replacing him with Richardson in left back. Against a determined Everton side, who are fighting their own battle for a UEFA spot and trailing by 2 goals, it was perhaps better to give Richardson a run out for the midweek Champanions League game against Milan.

While the management probably had throw in the towel with a negative looking substitution, the players never hung their heads. Right on the hour, Iain Turner who has been playing in place of Tim Howard, inexplicably dropped a corner from Giggs, allowing John O'Shea to stab the ball into goal.

After playing like zombies for an hour, United were thrown a life line and my did they grab it like their lives depended on it. On came Ronaldo in place of Smith and the football was flowing. There was a sudden spring in the steps and United pushed forward for the equaliser.

And it came from the most unlikely source. Old boy and goal shy, Phil Neville somehow managed to score, perhaps his most important goal for United during a mad scramble in the penalty box. I hope his Everton teammates wouldn't be to harsh on their captain in the dressing room.

The other old boy, Rooney, completed the comeback in the 79th minute. He dragged the ball wide from the Everton defence and squeezed in the winner between Turner and the far right post.

Chris Eagles, who came on as a late substitute, put the sprinkling on the toffee, curling a superb 4th in injury time.

It was a superb victory given the circumstances and it was made sweeter by the news that Chelsea had drawn against Bolton. 5 points clear and needing 4 points from the next 3 games should see us home free. Surely we can't possibly screw this one up even if we tried...right? I certainly hope not, but we're United, and we've always made things difficult for ourselves, as this game has shown.

Another thing I just want to say here......damn we gotta be one of the most exciting teams to root for. The emotional roller coaster rides that we, United fans, go thru is incredible. And it's been going on and has gone on for quite sometime. My ticky ticker has gone thru some really tough times for almost 27 years, just by watching United play. I swear I'm going to have a heart-attack one of these days before I turn 40. I suppose the point I'm trying to say is that as much as I love the emotional spins we've gone thru the past week or so, gimme a Roma-type, non-nerve wrecking game anytime. Thrashings or boring wins once in a while is good for the heart. I'm sure some of the older fans reading this will understand where I come from.

Reserves : Manchester United 1 - Everton 0

Quite frankly, I don't know why I bothered to even stay up to watch this game. I'm not too sure why I bother with the reserve games at all. I've caught the last couple of reserve games as well and quite honestly I don't think we're going to promote anyone from the youth squads for sometime.

To be fair, half the actual reserve squad has been out on loan, so we're playing mostly the under-18s. Still the quality just isn't there. Last week we got burnt 3-0 by a pretty strong Sheffield United side. Today we edged out a strong Everton side 1-0. With the exception of Chris Eagles, who is already in the first team, no one stood out.

You can understand the frustration Brian McClair feels running the academy. I got this link in my mail yesterday and found it to be a bloody good read. It's from a source I seldom visit, The Herald (Scotland). It's recommended reading.